Bethlehem residents are demanding metal barriers be installed on a section of State Highway 2 before a pedestrian is killed by fast moving cars travelling along the highway.
New Zealand Transport Agency's upgrades on the highway through Bethlehem finished late 2010.
It coincided with Tauranga City Council's construction of a roundabout just north of the township.

Bethlehem Progressive Association secretary Rosalie Crawford stands on the footpath next to the busy roundabout on SH2 in Bethlehem. Photo by Bruce Barnard.

Bethlehem Progressive Association secretary Rosalie Crawford says many pedestrians use the footpaths which surround the roundabout on SH2.
She says many vehicles travel at speed and swerve around the roundabout, very close to pedestrians on the footpath.
'The southbound traffic is the worst. Motorists are just treating it as a through road, not as a roundabout and are travelling quite fast.”
Rosalie fears a pedestrian will be hit by a vehicle if metal barriers are not installed on the edge of footpaths.
'I was walking there one day and a car came hurtling into the roundabout and veered quite wide and I thought ‘good grief I'm metres away from a car that's almost going sideways'.”
Metal barriers are in place at the Moffat Road roundabout, just down the road.
'Having the barriers will act as a visual sign for motorists to slow down and be careful travelling around it,” says Rosalie.
NZTA senior communications advisor Philippa Ross-James says they are not aware of the concerns. She welcomes the feedback and says NZTA is now investigating the issue.