{"id":575271,"date":"2026-08-20T22:30:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T22:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/575271\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T22:30:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T22:30:11","slug":"buses-struggle-to-navigate-roundabout-built-to-make-their-turns-safer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/575271\/","title":{"rendered":"Buses struggle to navigate roundabout built to make their turns safer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  [&amp;_p]:tit-sub-xl tit-sub-xl md:[&amp;_p]:d-tit-sub-xl md:d-tit-sub-xl mb-[1.3rem]\">A newly opened roundabout built to make bus turns safer appears to be recreating the exact problem it was designed to fix, with buses having to stop mid-manoeuvre.<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">The roundabout at the intersection of Brady Rd and Princes St East in \u014ct\u0101huhu replaced a three-point turn buses had used at the intersection for years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">It was intended to improve safety and reduce disruption, allowing buses to complete a u-turn rather than reversing into Brady Rd, according to Auckland Transport.<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">It says the difficulties with the new roundabout are simply down to teething issues for drivers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">Footage obtained by 1News showed several buses unable to complete the roundabout in one movement, instead having to perform a three-point turn \u2014 the same manoeuvre the roundabout was meant to replace. <\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">Other longer buses were seen using the \u014ct\u0101huhu United football club&#8217;s carpark to turn around.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/a-new-roundabout-at-princes-st-east-and-brady-rd-was-designe-ONU7EQKIXFAIXNHIK4JLOLVN3U.png\" alt=\"A new roundabout at Princes St East and Brady Rd was designed to make it easier for buses to turn.\" width=\"800\" height=\"449\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"ImageMetadata__MetadataParagraph-sc-hi5x8q-0 cWTYyG image-metadata\">A new roundabout at Princes St East and Brady Rd was designed to make it easier for buses to turn. (Source: Supplied)<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">AT manager of transport design and standards Chris Beasley said the roundabout was fully completed on August 18 and had been made for its current buses.<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">&#8220;The design was modelled with the two bus sizes currently used by Auckland Transport in mind, and testing confirmed that both sizes are able to negotiate the roundabout safely and without stopping,&#8221; Beasley said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">He said AT had received no complaints or incident reports since the opening and that new infrastructure often took some adjustment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">&#8220;It is not unusual for new infrastructure such as roundabouts to require drivers to adjust if they haven&#8217;t used it in its new configuration,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">Beasley said footage filmed by AT showed its largest bus type negotiating the roundabout at the anticipated speed for the manoeuvre and provided the video to demonstrate the point.<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">&#8220;The attached video filmed by AT shows the larger bus type we use successfully using the roundabout in accordance with the anticipated speed for the manoeuvre, so the issue observed isn&#8217;t universal,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-greyDarkFaded\">AT has released footage of its largest bus successfully navigating the new roundabout, after 1News witnessed several buses struggling to complete the turn. (Source: Supplied)<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;There was never an issue&#8217; &#8211; local resident<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">Sue Ford, who lives near the intersection, said the previous arrangement had operated without incident for the two decades she&#8217;d lived there. <\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">&#8220;There was never an issue with the buses doing what they were doing prior to the roundabout. They just go in, go up Brady Rd a bit, and then turn around. Quite simple,&#8221; she said. <\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">Ford said she raised concerns with Auckland Transport and local representatives before construction began, arguing the roundabout was unnecessary and that there wasn&#8217;t enough room for buses to manoeuvre safely. <\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">She said a bus became stuck on the central island shortly after the roundabout opened. <\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">&#8220;It&#8217;s not functional for the buses at all.&#8221; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A newly opened roundabout built to make bus turns safer appears to be recreating the exact problem it&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":575272,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[51,156,111,139,69,112],"class_list":["post-575271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-auckland","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-transport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/575271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=575271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/575271\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/575272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=575271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=575271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=575271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}