Frustrated Tauranga residents say traffic is at a “standstill”, with a trip across town taking up to two and a half hours, the same time as it would take to drive 200km from Auckland.

Tauranga has already been identified as having the worst traffic in the country, its MP calling it a “red cone nightmare”, due to its spiralling population.

This week, traffic escalated to levels people had “never seen before”.

The city ground to a halt as roadworks in Mt Maunganui closed a key route to the port and Mount. This created a domino effect of jams across the region, leaving frustrated drivers behind the wheel for hours, missing work, school pick-ups, and even having to urinate in bushes on the side of the road.

Wedding planner Kazz Orr took two and a half hours to travel from Pāpāmoa to Mt Maunganui, a distance of around 11km.

In comparison, the driving distance from Tauranga to Auckland is 200km, estimated to take two and a half hours at an average speed of 80km/h.

“It was just so unreal Monday and Tuesday the amount of traffic and time it took. I live at Palm Springs and work on Hewletts Road. We’ve lived here for 30 years approx, and it's never ever been that bad.”

Businesses are affected too, with staff struggling to get to work.

“We own businesses. Most of the staff coming from Pāpāmoa, Mount way were late. One had to turn around and go home... Businesses are moving out to outer areas.”

Some people had to get out of their cars to go to the toilet on the side of the road, whereas others tried to get off the roads.

Mount business owner Jo Jones is incredulous that roadworks are having such an impact.

“The Mount is gridlocked. Surely that is not just because of the closure of half a road.”

The additional traffic meant her business was on the road for hours which requires travel up and down Newton Street in the Mount throughout the day.

“It took 27.17 minutes to do 1.9km, which usually takes three minutes tops.”

“This is beyond ridiculous. I’ve just estimated that we will spend at least five hours extra on Newton Street today.”

Tauranga is a road cone nightmare, according to its MP, Sam Uffindell Photo: Stuff.

Thousands took to local community boards to vent, one calling Tauranga “the biggest car park in New Zealand”, another calling it “the new Auckland”.

Hundreds of people complained they were “gridlocked”, with traffic at a standstill, that they were wasting fuel, and debated alternatives such as walking or horseback.

One local school sent a message to all parents warning them to allow extra time for travel to avoid children being stranded.

Road construction is currently taking place on Totara Street, with one lane closed.

The situation was exacerbated on Tuesday when an accident closed part of State Highway 29. People couldn’t leave the Mount at all for part of the morning, with some commenting that it would be disastrous in a tsunami.

Philip Brown, chair of the Papamoa residents association is concerned Mount Maunganui and Papamoa could be death traps in a tsunami given traffic on the roads and lack of pedestrian escape routes. Photo: Christel Yardley/Stuff.

Pāpāmoa has already been called a “death trap” in the event of a tsunami, with gridlocked traffic “condemning people to death”, says Pāpāmoa Residents and Ratepayers Association president Philip Brown.

Bay of Plenty resident and transport academic Dr Jean-Paul Thull says planning has not kept up with the city’s growth.

“Tauranga has grown a lot faster than other cities and moved from a service town for the hinterlands and the port to a middle-sized city, without providing for population growth that obviously has a love affair for motor vehicles.”

While many road users say they need their cars, an answer to the city’s traffic woes could be using mixed modes of transport.

“Meaning you may require two modes to get to your end destinations. I have for many years been used to carry a bike in the back of my van, and park somewhere and bike to the end destination. However, without park and ride facilities, this is not possible.”

Brendan Bisley, Director of Transport Tauranga City Council, says people have contacted council this week.

“People have been in touch with our contact centre frustrated at the amount of congestion on the network, particularly on Tuesday. Unfortunately there was a serious motor vehicle accident on SH29a near Maungatapu that blocked both lanes for almost two hours. This closed the alternative access to other parts of Tauranga from the Mount and Pāpāmoa residents’ areas and significantly increased the congestion in the area.”

The city, one of the most car dependent in New Zealand, is at capacity, he says.

“The congestion is a result of the transport network being at capacity even without any road works. Any changes we make to the road network have an impact, as all the road corridors in the area are congested.”

The contractor was also working through the night, he said, and the work couldn’t be delayed as the road was “falling apart”.

-Annemarie Quill/Stuff.