Details of a $45 million government-funded project to futureproof Cameron Road are being shared with the community.
The community is being asked to help finalise the plan, which will help transform the Te Papa Peninsula into a thriving, connected centre.
Cameron Road is one of the city's busiest roads, connecting people in Tauranga's southern suburbs to the city centre.
At present, more than one million bus passengers travel along Cameron Road each year, and 60 per cent of all bus connections in Tauranga pass through Cameron Road.
Tauranga is growing fast and by 2063 our population is projected to have increased by almost 80,000.
Tauranga City Council infrastructure general manager, Nic Johansson, says Cameron Road is one of the city's main arteries, and council has an opportunity to get ahead of the growth by incorporating more transport options now, before the road is clogged with congestion.
'This multi-stage project will help address this growth, revitalise a key part of our city, and provide more transport options so people don't have to be so car dependant, all things the community has said they would like.”
The project aims to make this key route safer, more attractive, and provide more ways to move by giving people greater choice about whether to walk, cycle, scooter, catch a bus or drive.
Changes will include new part-time bus lanes, a new two-way cycleway, and improvements to make the area more walkable, attractive and community friendly.
This includes native plantings that reflect the history of the area and attract bird life, spaces for the community to spend time in, and room for businesses to have more interaction with the street including outdoor dining areas for example.
Existing traffic lanes will be retained.
'Through consultation on the Te Papa Spatial Plan, the community have said they want safe open spaces, tree lined streets, pedestrian-friendly, walkable neighbourhoods, and more housing and transport choice. One of the first steps towards creating this future will be along Cameron Road,” says Johansson.
Futureproofing Cameron Road also aligns with the government's goals of supporting growth, safety, alternate transport choices and creating attractive public spaces for the community.
'The grant we have received from central government to support local economic recovery from Covid-19 is a great opportunity for us to improve our city without ratepayers bearing the full cost of this significant project.”
Stage One of ‘Futureproofing Cameron Road' will run from Harington Street in the CBD down to 17th Ave beside Tauranga Hospital.
Stage Two aims to transform the length of Cameron Road from the hospital to Barkes Corner.
There is also potential to extend this to Tauriko, which will unlock the full benefits of the changes and support other cycleway and bus network improvements planned for the future.
Since 2018 Council has been working with a group of local residents and business representatives from the Stage One stretch of Cameron Road as well as a range of stakeholder groups to get their input into early designs, and will continue to work alongside them as plans are firmed up.
Click here to see what is being proposed.
Council would now like input from the wider community through the next design and development phases.
Community events (pending Covid-19 Alert Levels) are planned so the community can share their thoughts.
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When |
Where |
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Monday 22 March, 7am until 7pm |
Tauranga City Council offices |
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Tuesday 23 March, 12pm until 6pm |
PAKn'SAVE Tauranga car park |
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Thursday 25 March, 12pm until 6pm |
Tauranga Baptist Church |
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Saturday 27 March, 7.15am until 12 noon |
Tauranga Farmers' Market |
Detailed design for Stage One will be completed in July 2021.
In preparation for main construction to commence in September, some enabling works and trial road layout changes will start in late April 2021.
Council and the government have confirmed certain aspects of the project (such as the two-way cycleway, part-time bus lanes, and retention of existing traffic lanes) must be included. However, community feedback is being sought on a range of other elements.
'We are looking forward to finalising the design with the public's help and realising the benefits of this this significant project for our community.”
The community can provide feedback in person at open days, online at www.tauranga.govt.nz/cameronroad by email to cameron@tauranga.govt.nz or by calling Council on 07 577 7000.
35 comments
cameron rd
Posted on 11-03-2021 15:18 | By dumbkof2
45mil to think about it 65mil to plan 85 mil for iwi and consents 100mil for plan changes. final cost 150 mil
Really!
Posted on 11-03-2021 15:21 | By Wigan
I think Nic Johanson has been travelling down Cameron Road in a completely different town. Hey Nic FYI its already pretty bloody clogged & adding more cycle & bus lanes AND pedestrian crossings is only going to clog it more. Some great ideas are being put forward, but before you embark on this wonderful plan why not get the toll off Takitimu Drive & try to get more traffic to use this as an alternative?
Another car park saga?
Posted on 11-03-2021 15:23 | By Chris Lee
The farce of a 2 way cycle lane all the way down Cameron Rd! It's guaranteed that the ideologically-driven Tauranga City bureaucrats have no idea how that will work at every intersection or how much it will really cost!
Is this a Joke?
Posted on 11-03-2021 15:27 | By Equality
From the artists impression it looks as though the traffic is just one way! ?? Clicking onto the larger version it appears that there will be one lane each way for cars. This is supposed to create easier vehicle access along Cameron Road? No parking ? And they are still trying to entice people into the city centre? Sheer madness!
What a joke
Posted on 11-03-2021 15:36 | By Kayty
Cameron Road had cycling lanes and footpaths before council at that time changed something that was not broken. Then Cameron road pulled up again for bus bays. Now they want it put back again. Wonder if Greerton turns back the way it was before council botched that up. All the money used putting Tauranga further indept
What a joke
Posted on 11-03-2021 15:36 | By Kayty
Cameron Road had cycling lanes and footpaths before council at that time changed something that was not broken. Then Cameron road pulled up again for bus bays. Now they want it put back again. Wonder if Greerton turns back the way it was before council botched that up. All the money used putting Tauranga further indept
Congestion
Posted on 11-03-2021 15:45 | By Kancho
Love the phrase " before congestion" surely too late. A marvel how any of this will be achieved without getting rid of most of the traffic. So where will all the traffic tg to. How will the businesses along get custom? Will the designers of the Greerton cock up be involved. Greerton is safe as it's so slow mitre 10 to Barkes corner twenty minutes to half an hour. Still sounds like the length of Cameron road will be wonderful if you have an hour to spare. Perhaps I'm missing a major re routing of traffic to magically happen ?
Hmmm
Posted on 11-03-2021 16:25 | By Let's get real
Once again we slow the flow of traffic. All engines work most efficiently when they're being worked. So there could be a case to be made, that the biggest polluters are city councils. This will also, in my opinion, add to the demise of the city centre. Because people just don't want to be delayed and they certainly don't want to travel by public transport in New Zealand (that's why we have one of the highest rates of car ownership per capita) We need cars because we don't live in high population areas and the cost of transport still makes personal vehicles a cost effective option.
Future Proofed
Posted on 11-03-2021 16:28 | By gincat
Cameron road is all ready future proofed!!!! Learn from Greerton's mistake. Any business operating from Cameron will find trading tuff, their customers will have to hike from parking in adjacent streets. Bureaucrats are there to served the ratepayers not the other way round.
stupidity
Posted on 11-03-2021 16:30 | By terry hall
what a waste of money, C.B.D retail is dying slowly and by the time this is finished it will be dead there are 50 to 60 empty shops now/
Just a Suggestion
Posted on 11-03-2021 16:33 | By nzecho
Let’s start at the other end and trial it in Greerton...it surely couldn’t be worse than the last “improvement “
Two lane traffic
Posted on 11-03-2021 16:35 | By Angels
Another greerton, two lanes not 4, Lots more area for walkers and bike riders. Traffic will become even more of a nightmare. Travelling time into and out of city will be longer and effect THOUSANDS DAILY. But walkers and biker will rejoice
Not Greerton Mk 2
Posted on 11-03-2021 16:59 | By rational?
Love to see progress but let's hope it not the jumbled arrangement that is Greerton Cameron Rd. Once the changes were made there, the congestion increased dramatically. Council probably learned its lesson there, said the optimist....
Got it all wrong
Posted on 11-03-2021 18:14 | By Johnney
Most build up of traffic is created by pinch points like Greerton, Turret Rd bridge etc and only really happens at peak times twice a day. One million bus passengers a year. 20,000 per week. I just observed 4 buses today coming down Cameron Rd near 11th Ave following each other all empty.
Whats that i hear
Posted on 11-03-2021 18:50 | By old trucker
$45,million yeah right,it will spill over to $100,000,000 million by the end, they will find a bone and close it down, it will spread out over years like Bay Fair job,i do not believe there is one million people on buses over one year is wrong, all these yellow things with no people in running around with no one in them, last bus should be 6 oclock running around Matua at 8pm looking for people is bull dust,they say that pop,. will be 80,000 more by 2063 is 42 yrs away is rubbish all those TCC RUBBISH Staff will not be around then, truth be known it is going to start wether we like it or not and contract is probably signed like our rubbish bins,all UNDERHANDED stuff, why do we need a crossing to go over to warehouse,NO ONE CARES AT TCC 10-4 out. phew.
Did I miss something ???
Posted on 11-03-2021 21:03 | By The Caveman
$45 MILLION to further STUFF UP Cameron Road !!!!! And the Council wants residents to come into the CDB !!!!!!!!!!!! That is a total JOKE !!! SORRY, but all they are doing is to chase the wider Tauranga & Mount residents AWAY to Bayfair, The Crossing, Fraser Cove, Papamoa, Bethelem, and other similar malls. WHY would a resident in the wider Tauranga area EVER want to go to the TGA CDB, and in fact the NEXT area to be screwed will be the downtown MOUNT shopping area (watch this space)!!!!! If you are landlord in the Tauranga CDB or the Mount CDB, watch your tenants leave and your property valve DROP - no tenants =no income = falling property value!!!! And the Council still wants you rates payments!!
OH and I forgot to say
Posted on 11-03-2021 21:12 | By The Caveman
The so called council consultation and requested ratepayer input is NOTHING more than a SOP ……………… The faceless council bureaucrats – who it seems you will NEVER learn the names of, have already decided what they are going to do with Cameron Road and it IS A MASSIVE TRAFFIC BLOCK for the people that PAY the road costs - the MOTORISTS !! And it’s a case to HELL with the residents and motorists – IT'S ALL ABOUT THE BIKE MOB !!! Oh, and the newly appointed COMMISSIONERS will toe the line of the faceless council bureaucrats. Who runs the Council? - certainly NOT the COMMISSIONERS who are NOW supposed to be working for the ratepayers/residents.
Tom Ranger
Posted on 12-03-2021 08:24 | By Tom Ranger
So we pay for it through taxes instead. Okay. Gotcha. ;) Can we please have this area's lanes sorted out - 2 continuous lanes in each direction. No merging points.. Too many pedestrian crossings on the plan to my liking. Wont stop people just running for the middle green strip, like they do currently.
Stationary traffic doesn't cause accidents.
Posted on 12-03-2021 09:34 | By Let's get real
I don't know how many times I've said that when people start talking about congestion in any city around the country. I wouldn't be at all surprised if it isn't a city planning mantra. Cities are "rated" and one of the key performance indicators is accidents and injuries. Maybe, in the present hand-wringing environment, the most important key performance indicator should be keeping traffic moving to reduce carbon emissions and other harmful emissions from stationary traffic. Our country will be among the last to be able to move away from the combustion engine and we're living in La-La land to think otherwise.
Tom Ranger
Posted on 12-03-2021 10:03 | By Tom Ranger
Well. based on the feedback here. It's an overwhelming... NO commissioners. Just No. and Nic J is obviously out of touch with reality. @Wigan. - You've solved the issue around greerton and spent nothing extra. Yes...You've suggested removing tolls on roads that were paid for by the users on the understanding that tolls would be removed once paid for and never were. Sounds fair to me.
Sooo out of touch
Posted on 12-03-2021 10:03 | By Neiliies
Lets just see if this statement remains true "Existing traffic lanes will be retained." My guess is that one lane each way will be a dedicated "bus lane" for the 'ghost passengers" therefore they're actually reducing a car lane, but not having to say so outright. The designers are just so out of touch with the real world it's frustrating and ridiculous, and yes I agree that once something like this is actually released to the public for 'submission' it has already been set-in-stone behind the scenes - what can we as their employers do though? By the way designers, the full length of Cameron Road used to be 4 lanes , and it worked fine! Also this statement is what we as employer/ratepayers are fighting against "the government’s goals of supporting growth, safety, alternate transport choices and creating attractive public spaces for the community."
What
Posted on 12-03-2021 10:21 | By Told you
After the Greerton debacle you would think they would leave well alone. I can see a disaster looming.
Traffic diversions
Posted on 12-03-2021 11:02 | By Kancho
Anything like the Greerton débâcle and it will take longer , cost more and be very disruptive. Traffic already giving off on side roads to avoid Greerton making suburb housing areas less safe . No mention of enhancing route K with another entrance at the hospital area. Mind you the roundabouts at The Crossing will need serious engineering as increased traffic from Route K is already terrible and scary . Lane markings at Barkes corner also needs work as road paint is inadequate over head signs are required to sort out lanes. Several times narrowly missed having people in left turn only lanes cut across in front of me to go further round the roundabout. All pinch points to stop traffic flow impacting on Cameron road added to Greerton
Road priorities
Posted on 12-03-2021 11:46 | By CliftonGuy
There are only two roads in and out of Papamoa. Papamoa is being rapidly built up and a town centre is due to be built at Te Tumu. Why then is no attention being given to the roller coaster ride that is the Beach Road? This is long overdue for a complete rebuild.
@ let's get real
Posted on 12-03-2021 12:14 | By Kancho
Electric cars are still way to expensive and converting to electric will not lessen cars in fact the population will still increase too. Another factor is charge points are insufficient. If everyone in the street charging cars at a decent rate I doubt the transformers and cables will cope either . Then of course still a lot of issues building batteries and disposal..but hey that will pollute someone else's country. Last time I looked at an equivalent electric car it was double the price pretty much but they are coming down . Still for most people struggling and going to work it's an older car
Some fierce responses.
Posted on 12-03-2021 12:46 | By morepork
Obviously, people are concerned and most of the points discussed are fair. I hope the passion seen here will be carried to public meetings and presented as "requested feedback". We can see if Council actually DOES take any notice. For myself, I never use Cameron Road after 11th Ave. If I need to go to the Hospital, well, OK... but mostly, I take alternate routes to the South. I just think it is a dreadful stretch of road that is ugly and no fun at all to be stuck in traffic on it. I don't really care what they do with it because I most likely will continue not to use it. Suggestions to remove the toll on Takitimu drive are sensible and it MIGHT help the flow.
No Details
Posted on 12-03-2021 14:13 | By Avman
There is a glib statement that "traffic lanes will be retained", and yet, that is impossible when one looks at what else is supposed to be included in the work. Notice that there are no actual plans of the work, just one artists's sketch, which is fanciful and impossible given the actual geometry of the road. So again, show us the actual plans, with actual measurements? I notice also as per usual, that Council/the commission have already told us when works will commence, and that the works are going ahead regardless of what people want or what people say, and now that everything is already set in stone, there will be some pointless consultation. If 100% of people say no, it will of course go ahead, and they will also have the nerve to say that the majority wanted it, as is usual.
Devonport Road ......
Posted on 12-03-2021 14:37 | By Equality
..... will become the main road into Tauranga.
Commissioners or no,
Posted on 12-03-2021 14:53 | By nerak
this city is a train wreck in agonizingly slow motion. To hell with commonsense, let us do what we think looks clever. Unbelievable, and the ratepayers are paying these people!
@kancho
Posted on 12-03-2021 16:43 | By Let's get real
Electric vehicles will become an environmental disaster at some stage in the future. But, as with many environmental issues, the downside is not spoken about because it taints the feel good factor of saving the planet. For those of you with children or grandchildren in primary school (where the teachers pronouncements are gospel) have a chat with them about the social engineering going on with an extreme green/left focus and look at some of the artwork around the walls and outside the gates.
Here we go again.
Posted on 12-03-2021 17:16 | By Told you
Greerton was altered on the premise of safety, what excuse do they need now, why can’t we have 4 lanes.
15th Ave
Posted on 12-03-2021 19:42 | By Told you
What’s more important is access to the toll road off 15th Ave , this would take the pressure off Cameron Rd and also passage through Greerton and stop the bottle neck at Barkes corner.
@Avman
Posted on 13-03-2021 12:47 | By morepork
Some posters here decry the negativity and "whingeing" in these posts. But you have put your finger exactly on the reason for it. Some faceless person in TCC has an idea, it goes to others, they formulate a plan (after a fashion...), it is slated to start at a certain date, and THEN, the LAST thing they do, is consult the public. Obviously, they are not REALLY interested in what people think of their project. There is no way they are going to modify or cancel it in response to the mere Citizens and Ratepayers of Tauranga. Can't have the tail wagging the dog... Then they find their amazing plan is flawed or even broken. Close ranks and blame the contractors... Fortunately there is an unlimited supply of Other People's Money to fight the Court Case and ensure everyone stays employed... Vote ourselves a raise, and repeat.
No details indeed.
Posted on 13-03-2021 15:33 | By Kancho
How will traffic be managed as in Greerton traffic takes side streets to get round. Greerton stops traffic will it be reinstated to double lanes to allow flow or will this be the fate of more of Cameron road. Other routes South ? Will the toll be removed from route K and better engineering to clear The Crossing. Will Barked corner likewise have better signage as paint on the road isn't visible. Both Barkes Corner and The Lakes need proper overhead signage and better flow engineering to reduce these pinch points . Will Fraser street get more work as an alternative route? Is there really room for done lanes two way cycling a d pedestrian. Bus lanes will obviously take one lane at times so disingenuous to say double lanes or existing lanes will be maintained.
Route K
Posted on 13-03-2021 16:37 | By Kancho
Maybe another entrance at the hospital area to get onto Route K and no toll although The Crossing already has backed up traffic so that would get at worse
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