Tauranga City Council, the Sustainable Business Network and the Bayfair Underpass Alliance have called a public meeting to discuss ways to get the construction of a cycle and pedestrian underpass under the B2B link back on the NZ Transport Agency's agenda.
The meeting will be held on Monday at the Mount Maunganui College Hall, starting at 5.30pm.
Mayor Greg Brownless says the Council has been encouraging NZTA to hold a public meeting to discuss its decision not to proceed with the underpass, which it has estimated could cost in the vicinity of $33 million.
'Those efforts have got us nowhere so far, so we're looking to get everyone who has an interest in the underpass together to talk about a way forward, before it's too late.
'My position throughout this process has been that the underpass should remain. It's vital that we have an efficient way of getting pedestrians and cyclists across Maunganui Road without adversely affecting traffic flows. That will require a grade-separated solution and we want to hear the community's views on what that solution should look like.”
NZTA representatives have been invited to attend, as have local MPs.
Speakers including Glen Crowther (BOP Regional Manager of the Sustainable Business Network), Tauranga City Council and Bayfair Underpass Alliance representatives will provide background on the existing situation and the issues that would be created if a grade-separated crossing is not reinstated.
3 comments
WHY?
Posted on 19-09-2019 08:11 | By tabatha
The first lot of options where the road was going, 3 of them, showed no underpass but a series of lights. Have people forgotten this when visiting Baypark open days on the ideas. Also remember traffic flow will be reduced by traffic going over the top. City Council workers would have seen this if they looked.
Must be election time
Posted on 19-09-2019 09:00 | By Gordonk
This would have been known at the initial design stage, but the council brain was not engaged. So it's a bit late to act now so we will get butt covering and alternative options at rate payer cost. Must be election time better make it look like we are doing something! Not what you have done more what you are doing about it - increasing ratepayers costs.
A Lot Changes in Eight Years
Posted on 19-09-2019 14:40 | By Sollygirl
NZTA published its first newsletter about Baylink in November 2011. Since then our population has exploded, traffic has exploded and the climate crisis demands that we look at different ways to get around including buses, cycling and walking. Baylink's design never anticipated the world as it is now and will be in the future. For this reason the project should be paused and urgently reviewed - as our Mayor and Council CEO have recommended - so that this project makes it safer and easier for drivers of cars, buses, cyclists and pedestrians. We'll need all these transport options to work well for Tauranga in the future.
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