Greg Sutton, who owns a business on Waihi Road, is worried about some of the council's proposed changes to the street. Photo / Alisha Evans
Greg Sutton, who owns a business on Waihi Road, is worried about some of the council's proposed changes to the street. Photo / Alisha Evans
Plans for sweeping changes to the road network on Tauranga's Ōtūmoetai Peninsula are under way, but one business owner has concerns about the safety of cyclists and pedestrians.
Tauranga City Council commissioners approved "emerging preferred options" for the Accessible Streets for Ōtūmoetai Peninsula project at a meeting on Monday.
The project, estimated to cost $64.9 million, aims to support a shift from private vehicles to more energy efficient, low-cost and active modes of transport such as walking, cycling and public transport in the suburbs of Ōtūmoetai, Matua, Brookfield, Bellevue and Judea.
It was the plans for Waihi Road and 11th Ave in Judea that had business owner Greg Sutton worried.
He owns Anything Auto Electrical, and the business at the start of Waihi Road where it meets with the Koromiko Street roundabout. An on-ramp and off-ramp for Takitimu Drive (State Highway 2) also meet this roundabout.
The council is proposing to add a shared path for cyclists and pedestrians down the northbound side of 11th Ave and Waihi Rd, with a crossing across Koromiko St before the roundabout.
Sutton said this idea was "90 per cent" better than the original proposal, which he believed would have resulted in somebody being "injured or killed" if it went ahead.
The first design saw the shared path run directly in front of Sutton's business and two others, which he said saw 250 vehicle movements a day.
Greg Sutton has suggested adding extra protection for cyclists to the Waihi Road cycle lane. Photo / Alisha Evans
"For a couple of us, we're actually backing out motor homes, vehicles with boats on and truck and trailer units," said Sutton. "There's no visibility to the footpath - the buildings pretty much go right up to the edge, so you're backing out blind."
Sutton believed there were still issues with the latest design, and having the shared path cross Koromiko Street before the roundabout was a "mistake".
His concern was the high traffic volume that used that portion of the road, and that the speed of drivers would be unsafe for cyclists and pedestrians.
"I think the cars coming down the hill aren't looking for somebody to come across their path."
He suggested keeping the current cycleway that ran alongside the road, adding protection for cyclists and painting the whole cycleway green to increase visibility and driver awareness, which would be "far safer".
In August and September, the council carried out consultations with the community, mana whenua and key stakeholders on the project.
Sutton, other business owners and residents of Waihi Road were some of those stakeholders.
He presented in the public forum at Monday's meeting, and had since met with TCC project team lead Karen Hay and design lead Oliver Brown from the consultancy team Haerenga Tahi.
"I will say that they do seem to be listening. We have seen some good changes come through."
He was concerned that now the project had been signed off by the commissioners, "there's nothing stopping them doing whatever they want".
Sutton said he didn't think that would happen, but would be "disappointed" if it did.
"Whatever they do, it just needs to be safe."
In response to Sutton's concerns, the council's director of transport Brendan Bisley said they appreciated his feedback.
"[We] agreed that extra protection could be added to the northbound cycle facility," Bisley said.
"He also provided some great suggestions around how we could better accommodate pedestrians, which we have also taken on board.
"The emerging preferred option currently includes a shared path, but as discussed with Greg, we will consider his suggestion of a separate pedestrian link and a cycle path in this section of Waihi Road.
"We are still in the early stages of the project, and we are committed to keeping stakeholders and interested parties involved as the concept design is developed."
Responding to Sutton's comments about the project being signed off, Bisley said approval of the emerging preferred option would allow for a concept design to be developed over the next few months.
"Once the concept design is complete, the community will have another opportunity to give feedback.
"Once this feedback is taken into consideration, the final design will be presented to Council for approval. Following this, a business case will be submitted to Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency for funding."
"We believe the preferred option offers a balanced solution across all modes of transport, and we are committed to working with the community and stakeholders to continue developing the design so that it is acceptable to the community," Bisley said.
Other proposed changes on Waihi Rd and 11th Ave include:
- One-way cycleways and shared paths in some sections on both sides of Waihi Road and bus priority measures.
- The removal of a city-bound traffic lane between the slip lane exit to Takitimu Drive and Edgecumbe Road to provide space for a bus/transit lane.
- Conversion of citybound parking between Edgecumbe Road and Cameron Road to a morning-only peak bus/transit lane clearway with on-street parking removed during the morning peak travel times.
Tauranga City Council commissioner Stephen Selwood. Photo / John Borren
During Monday's council meeting, commissioner Stephen Selwood said ongoing, comprehensive consultation was "critical" to developing a design that was acceptable to the community.
"The issue with these projects is always that they require everyone to give a little, because we are trying to fit multi-modal transport systems into what has largely been a car-dominated environment.
"Inevitably there are conflicts, and we have to reconcile all of those conflicts as best we can."
According to a timeline on the council's website, the community consultation for the project is set for February and March next year.
Approval of the business case is likely in April 2023, with detailed design in starting in July.
Construction would begin in late 2024 or early 2025 and take place over 2-3 years. Accessible Streets is one of a series of actions under the Government's Road to Zero Strategy, which aims to ensure no-one is seriously injured or killed on New Zealand roads.
