Politicians speak on Tauranga’s roads

Local candidates have their say on transport issues around Tauranga.

It's no secret that transport systems in Tauranga and the Western Bay of Plenty have been under immense pressure lately, with an estimated 10 per cent increase in traffic on our roads in recent months.

One of the biggest bugbears has been the state of traffic on State Highway 2, particularly heading into the city from Omokoroa in the mornings.

Residents living in Omokoroa and Te Puna will be familiar with the slow crawl which has prompted calls for change.

One proposed idea is for a flyover at the Omokoroa Road/SH2 intersection, as well as four-laning the highway – but those are long-term plans.

Last month Sun Media shared Glen Proctor's idea of running a water taxi between the Omokoroa Boat Club and The Strand morning and afternoon, five days a week. Anything to get more cars off the road it seems.

Further along the highway at Katikati, holidaymakers should expect to hit a chokepoint there this Christmas, with SunLive reporting several long queues of traffic over the holiday period heading into Tauranga.

However the government and NZTA have recently announced a bypass will be built, alleviating those issues at some point in the future.

But what about Tauranga itself? The city, built as it is across several peninsulas, has several chokepoints, usually near bridges or along the city's main conduit, Cameron Rd.

So what's the answer to making travelling in and around the city easier? Should we be building more roads, or encouraging people to catch the bus? What about taking tolls off Route K, or four-laning Turret Rd?

We asked our local politicians for answers – here's what they had to say.

Simon Bridges – National

Tauranga is experiencing strong growth which is fantastic for our region. There are more jobs, more people moving here and our economy is doing great. Our growing region needs continued investment in infrastructure. We've invested more infrastructure than in any other time in New Zealand's history. We've built the Bay's biggest ever roading project, the Tauranga Eastern Link, a $455 million road connecting Tauranga with the Eastern Bay.

More than 2.3 million vehicles travelled on the TEL in the year that it opened – close to 40 per cent more than predicted. We plan to continue this strong investment and have committed to $520 million in the State Highway 2 – Waihi to Tauranga and Tauranga Northern Link. We've also started work on the $120 million Baypark to Bayfair link, to name just two of the two projects we are delivering for Tauranga.

Simon is standing in Tauranga.

Angela Warren-Clark – Labour

A strong economy needs a well-connected, reliable transport network.

There's been a lack of vision and investment in our transport system across Tauranga and the Western Bay of Plenty. We see that in the traffic jams in and out of Papamoa, on the way to Katikati and through to Turret Rd.

The National government prioritised state highways over public transport, regional roads, ports and rail. It's time to invest in the Bay and get us moving.

Labour wants you to spend less time in traffic and more time with your families. But to do that we need a safe and efficient transport network.

We need to invest in our regional roading systems and build a vision for reliable, affordable public transport in partnership with local government.

Angela is standing in Bay of Plenty.

Clayton Mitchell – NZ First

After discussions with independent and international advisers we know inter-modal transport solutions exist. Any party that wants to work with New Zealand First has to know central government must work with local government to prioritise funding practical alternatives, making regional fuel taxes unnecessary. With fast, reliable, safe, and sustainable public transport options, transport challenges and traffic congestion will become more manageable.

Our roads need to be fit for purpose. New Zealand First will hold National to their electioneering promises of 2008 and 2011 to fully fund the four-laning of 15th Ave and Turret Rd, but we also need to make sure we're not just facilitating big money roading projects. We already have two of the three toll roads in the whole country, and New Zealand First wants to take them off Route K to relieve pressure on Cameron and Cambridge Rds.

Clayton is standing in Tauranga.

Emma-Leigh Hodge – Greens

We must diversify our transport options and move away from such reliance on private vehicle use. Tauranga's layout makes this a difficult task but for too long we have had a government that is not interested in taking up the challenge. Four-laning Turret Rd represents a temporary reprieve at best, the old mantra ‘build it and they will come' has evidently been lost somewhere along the way.

The Green Party will ensure adequate funding of alternative transport options, including buses where we will work with regional councils to improve bus priority measures on all main roads, including connections such as Turret Rd. A fuel tax may be an option for the region but this must be paired with viable alternatives to private vehicle use and the Green's priority is bringing these to fruition. We have a beautiful city for walking and cycling – we will work on making these options accessible.

Emma-Leigh is standing in Tauranga.

Rusty Kane – Independent

Our reliance on and the dominance of private vehicles in Tauranga is the highest in the country and this will continue for the foreseeable future. Future technologies, driverless cars, and new car navigation systems will have the biggest impact in reducing traffic congestion. The government has pledged $520 million over the next decade for roading projects such as the Northern Link bypass, but this needs to be extended/brought forward with extra funding for a safe on-road, off-road exit intersection at Omokoroa.

Local government needs to implement more multi-modal transport options, like Mark Wassung's Transport Network ideas, combined with a water taxi service. The government needs to keep their promise of funding for four-laning Turret Rd with room for pedestrian/cycle, emergency service and bus lanes extended through to the CBD. The Route K tolls should be removed to ease congestion on other inner city arterial routes, i.e. Cameron/Cambridge Rds.

Rusty is standing in Tauranga.

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10 comments

rail

Posted on 18-08-2017 10:59 | By dianeb

there is a great rail line going right through Omokoroa. Why can't we have a small train into town right into The Strand.


I hope

Posted on 18-08-2017 11:18 | By Merlin

I hope the projects will come faster than the 10 bridges promised in the Northland by election.Only two are under way i believe.No more vote catching policies please.


here we go again

Posted on 18-08-2017 13:07 | By old trucker

Golly gosh Simple is at it again,(of cause) its election year, he promised 10 new bridges up north, have they started yet, he knows exactly whats going on here and probably having meetings everyday and free lunches as well, gosh there is NO NEWS about Kati kati bypass mentioned here, but they have $$$Billions to give to another scource,which is why they are not doing this work,also we do not need to spend $120million on baypark rnd about, imagine the hold ups when this starts, i went through there 2 weeks back in transporter and it was back to Sandhurst drive,the cost of a truck idling along must cost $thousands a yr in costs, all bayfair needs is a flyover ,one each way and the original rnd about can stay there, but NO have to have all the baubles, my thoughts only,No1, Sunlive,Thankyou,10-4 out,phew.


Avr

Posted on 18-08-2017 14:49 | By Anton

If there is enough land to build houses,but only wheelbarrow paths to go out,it is not wise to build the houses.


Don't let them fool you

Posted on 18-08-2017 15:54 | By Chris

National promised us a dual causeway on Turret road at the last election before they reneged. Don't let them fool you again, Simon Bridges is an incorrigible liar.


An idea

Posted on 19-08-2017 08:30 | By Kaimai

If politicians had to drive everywhere - no chauffeurs and no flying, I wonder what the state of our roads would be?


Tauranga Roads

Posted on 19-08-2017 08:54 | By collydogz

A Couple of months ago I wrote to council and suggested that the tolls be taken off the toll road. That would relieve congestion in Cameron Rd and Greeton. Suggested they refrain from putting any further obstructions on the roads unless needed. Also suggested that council cease approving any further consents until the roading is sorted. I was more or less told that none of this would work.Council does not seem to understand that the reason we are having more accidents is because there is a huge increase in traffic. If they continue putting obstructions on the roads that are not needed ie the roundabout between Sandhurst Rd and Pacific View Rd. Apart from it being totally unnecessary it is far too big.


Typical political speak.

Posted on 19-08-2017 09:40 | By TheCameltoeKid

Bridges has blithered on about basically nothing. We all know what has been built, what we want to know is when is construction going to start? If the money is there for the Northern Arterial Route and the land secure then why isn't it underway. NZTA badly need a rocket up their jackxy. Just look at TePuna, still not finished. Now let's look at Hairini, fat lot of good that's going to be without 4 laning Turret rd and 15th Ave. All that will happen is people will come to the underpass and see the queue backed up and take the old way and still cause the bottleneck. It's just ridiculous that we have 2 toll roads. The toll needs to be lifted on Route K and For God's Sake get on with 15th Ave and the Northern Arterial Route!


Just wondering

Posted on 19-08-2017 13:21 | By astex

Watching a tv program the other night about the invasion of europe on D day I couldn't help wondering why it takes so long now to build roads and bridges. In just a few days it seems that bridges were built across rivers etc that were strong enough to hold tanks and fully laden trucks. Why then can we not get the army to build a temporary bridge on Turret road to get things moving. Why does everything take so long to do in NZ? The Chinese seem to know that to get things done in a hurry you need to throw more manpower at it and yet we seem to only have a handful of people working on things like the Welcome Bay roundabout and it takes years to complete. The speed that we move at will only mean that we are marking time.


Rail

Posted on 20-08-2017 08:12 | By collydogz

The idea of using rail from Omokoroa is brilliant and would not cost a fortune. It could make a couple of stops along the way. If Im not mistaken the line runs along beside Ngatai Rd. Maybe a stop at TePuna or there abouts. Brilliant.


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