Some of the finishing touches to stage one of Cameron Rd upgrade, including at the Sixth Avenue intersection were worked on last week. Photo / Alex Cairns
Some of the finishing touches to stage one of Cameron Rd upgrade, including at the Sixth Avenue intersection were worked on last week. Photo / Alex Cairns
Business owners and managers say disruptions and construction delays have led to major “financial hits” for their businesses.
One told the Bay of Plenty Times the business had suffered a turnover loss of 33 per cent “at least” while another said her takings were down 40 per cent and she had to seek a further loan to keep the business open.
Nic Johansson, the council’s infrastructure general manager, said final costs for stage one of the project were still being determined, but the projected total cost was about $110 million, with some “specific pieces of work” still to be completed.
Johansson said as well as the major road improvements, about a third of the cost included upgrading 100-year-old infrastructure such as wastewater pipes and stormwater treatments to help prepare the city for more people living on the Te Papa peninsula.
He said Covid-19 impacts, “unprecedented” price rises for resources, and “unseasonably” wet weather” last summer caused delays and price increases despite efforts to “ensure efficiencies” where possible.
Roadworks on Cameron Rd between 17th and 16th Avenues continued on Tuesday. Photo / Alex Cairns
Tauranga had more than 750mm of rain last summer, the highest since records began in 1898, he said.
Johansson said there had been “last-minute issues” commissioning new traffic lights at the Sixth Ave intersection and mid-block crossings near Fifth and 16th Avenues.
The crossing near Fifth Ave was completed on January 11, the Sixth Ave traffic lights were activated on Thursday and the 16th Ave crossing was expected to be completed in the next few weeks, he said.
Other works expected to be done by the end of February were stormwater work on Fourth Ave (west), repainting bus lanes and other line markings, applying paint to new asphalt, and installation of interpretive panels, artwork and water fountains.
Johansson said there may be a few other finishing touches that need to “extend into March”.
Use of part-time bus lanes had been deferred until at least March pending a report on planned city centre parking initiatives, he said.
Advantage Tyre Solutions Tauranga branch manager Paul Dackers said it was great to see the barriers finally removed however, the business near Ninth Ave had taken a “major financial hit” for well over a year.
He said the economic downtown, election uncertainty, and the roadworks “compounded” to make it difficult to meet his targets.
He said the business had suffered an estimated 33 per cent loss in turnover after a significant loss of customers, many of whom he believed had gone elsewhere.
Advantage Tyre Solutions Tauranga branch manager Paul Dackers. Photo / Sandra Conchie
An emotional Liquorland Tauranga owner Lisa Parker said the project had been “hugely upsetting and stressful” for her and her staff, and she blamed ongoing disruptions and construction hold-ups for takings being down 40 per cent.
“For a liquor store that’s a huge loss … I’ve had to get an extra loan to keep the doors open. It’s been very disappointing.”
Parker said despite numerous pleas to have the orange safety barriers removed over the Christmas-New Year period, which is usually one of her busiest trading times, the council “wouldn’t have a bar of it”.
“We took such a hit financially last Christmas and needed the council to agree to keep this part of the road open, even temporarily over the holiday period, as it would have made a huge financial difference to us but we have lost money again.”
Some of the Cameron Rd upgrade works were finally completed this week including the opening of the Sixth Avenue intersection. Photo / Alex Cairns
Parker said she would need to seek further financial help this year to “keep the business afloat” during quieter months.
A Cameron Rd store manager, who asked not to be named, was pleased to see the Sixth Ave intersection barriers come down, after a “painful two years”.
He said he believed a “lack of co-ordination” within the project contributed to some of the delays.
In his view, it would have been “far better” to have created “better roundabouts” than more traffic lights along the route.
“It’s only going to force more motorists to avoid Cameron Rd and clog up Devonport Rd,” he said.
Hamills New Zealand store owner Stacy Whiteman said a significant drop in foot traffic impacted the business while the entry to Ninth Ave intersection from Cameron Rd was closed, however, people had started to return. It was like “someone had flipped on a switch” after the barriers were removed.
Local Ross Haycock was one of the first people to use the pedestrian crossing at Sixth Avenue and Cameron Rd on January 25, 2024. Photo / Sandra Conchie
“I don’t see changing the roundabout to an intersection with traffic lights would necessarily result in a safety improvement. The jury is still out on that.”
Ross Haycock, who was one of the first pedestrians to use the Sixth Ave new pedestrian crossing, said the changes “looked great”.
“However, I do wonder whether this [upgrade works] will make a difference in attracting more people into downtown Tauranga, especially when there are so many for-lease empty shops.
In response to those criticisms, Johansson said the concerns expressed by Cameron Rd businesses were “completely understandable”.
Tauranga City Council infrastructure general manager Nic Johansson. Photo / George Novak
“While projects on this scale will inevitably cause some disruption, we acknowledge we have a responsibility to keep that disruption to an absolute minimum. We accept that more should have been done sooner to ease the problems experienced.”
He said the council was taking steps to ensure “lessons were learned” from stage one works and changes in approach were made for stage two and all other major city transport network projects.
“We know we need to do better in future and the business community and road users can expect to see that duty of care exercised and work-related disruption minimised wherever possible.”
Johansson said on completion of stage one, monitoring of the impact of the changes would begin, likely by using CCTV footage, signal detector loop information, manual road user counts, and comparing those impacts with the “benefit analysis” undertaken before the project was given the go-ahead.
He said it would take “several years” to assess usage trends, some of which would only be visible once the whole length of Cameron Rd was upgraded.
Sandra Conchie is a senior journalist at the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post who has been a journalist for 24 years. She mainly covers police, court and other justice stories, as well as general news. She has been a Canon Media Awards regional/community reporter of the year.
