Speed bumps removed before bus tunnel hit-and-run

CRAIG SIMCOX/The Dominion Post

CAUGHT ON CAMERA: Mt Victoria resident Kent Duston lives has photographed people illegally using the tunnel. Speed bumps were removed two weeks before a hit-and-run left a pedestrian critically ill.

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Speed bumps were removed from Hataitai bus tunnel in Wellington two weeks before a hit-and-run left a pedestrian critically ill.

Locals say the absence of speed bumps has led to cars speeding noisily through the tunnel.

A 42-year-old man was found with severe injuries at 4am on Saturday by a motorist driving illegally through the tunnel.

Police were not sure how long the man had lain there. He is in a critical condition in Wellington Hospital's intensive care unit.

City council spokesman Richard MacLean said speed bumps in the bus tunnel were removed two weeks ago for resealing work. The work began on January 18.

The speed bumps would be put back today, he said. "It's a case of arranging a timetable to do it in the early hours of the morning."

The speed bumps were too narrow to obstruct bus wheels but did slow down cars.

Mr MacLean said it was possible some car drivers had "twigged" that the speed bumps had been removed.

Neither cars nor pedestrians are allowed to use the single-lane, badly lit tunnel.

Kent Duston, of the Mt Victoria Residents Association, said that, since the speed bumps were removed, the tunnel had become a magnet for boy racers. "It's certainly been effective at increasing their velocity. You can hear their exhausts all the way down the tunnel."

Mr MacLean said the council, bus companies and police would discuss Saturday morning's accident, but would not rush over a solution before the speed bumps returned.

"There have been discussions about gates, but we are taking a look at the whole issue, and we'll see if the problem continues."

Wellington police are investigating the hit-and-run.

- © Fairfax NZ News