Trials and tribulations on Te Puna roads

Some motorists travelling on SH2 this morning, reported wait times of up to an hour. File photo.

People stuck in traffic on State Highway 2 believe a two-week trial on the highway near Te Puna is the cause of a number of traffic delays today.

The trial began on Monday and is being carried out by the NZ Transport Agency and Western Bay of Plenty District Council to see if delays can be reduced on the stretch of road.

Motorists travelling on the stretch of road this morning have reported widespread delays and slow-moving traffic.

Solutions being trialled include removing the right-turn into Te Puna Station Road from SH2, speed reductions on Te Puna Station Road and closing Te Puna Station Road from Clarke Road.

People will access SH2 from Clarke Road or Te Puna Road.

Whakamarama resident Robert Cross is one of a number of people who have been quick to express their frustrations.

'Just received a call from my wife saying she is stuck in a traffic jam heading towards Tauranga which is now at a standstill at the Te Puna stream just after Barrett Road,” he says.

Another commuter who commented on the SunLive Facebook page reported wait-times of up to nearly one hour.

'It's about 45 minutes from Omokoroa to Bethlehem currently,” wrote one commenter.

'They closed Te Puna Station Road yesterday and it cut 25 minutes off my travel time, even though we were moving, and yet today they leave it open – not hard to work out the solution,” says another.

SunLive has contacted the NZ Transport Agency and Western Bay of Plenty District Council for comment on the trial and will bring more information as it becomes available.

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4 comments

they should resign

Posted on 16-05-2018 11:38 | By Capt_Kaveman

blocking roads is not the answer, the problem here is infrastructure TCC has failed to build, you have a ped crossing on a major highway, there are 3 issues that need fixing now and if if TNZ dont know then they should quit


Surprise!**!

Posted on 16-05-2018 12:26 | By thebrads6

What are we to expect here, with EVERY vehicle approaching Tauranga from the North hitting the roundabouts in Bethlehem? This is only going to get worse & even IF we get the bypass, it will be 5 years in construction! At least it will stop speed related injuries & deaths. Good time to invest in selling walking shoes or bike tyres :)


Give it a chance!

Posted on 16-05-2018 14:24 | By The Hobbit

When I drove past at 6:40 this morning traffic was slowing down because there was a big road works truck parked in the middle of the road, in the right turn land for Te Puna Station Road, and drivers heading towards Tauranga were slowing right down to see what the truck was up to. No reason to do this. I'm not sure if that truck was still there during rush hour but if it was, I suspect that this was the main cause and not the fact that the road had been closed off. At the end of the day, any change in road layout or route is going to take a while to bed in. This trial should be given longer than 2 weeks so that people can get used to change - I say it should be 4 weeks at least. And move that truck!!!


There

Posted on 16-05-2018 15:08 | By Merlin

There was a suggestion of light rail from Omokoroa to the city.Park and rail.The rail line is there.This would take a lot of cars off the road especially with the developement rapidly growing at Omokoroa.Simon Bridges poo pooed this when in government.Perhaps another look at this would help.


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