State Highway 29 at Tauriko. Photo / Alex Cairns
Regional economic and business leaders want the Government to help fast-track what one believes is a “critical” overhaul of an increasingly ‘‘fragile’' transport corridor crucial to the Golden Triangle.
On Tuesday, Bay of Plenty Regional Council, Tauranga City Council, and Western Bay of Plenty District Council endorsed a Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency plan to overhaul the Tauriko Western Corridor despite expressing concerns at the plan’s proposed 2050 delivery.
The Tauriko SH29 Network Connections Detailed Business Case recommends six-laning SH29 from Takitimu Drive to Barkes Corner, including bus lanes, widening of SH36 between Lakes Boulevard and SH29A, also including bus lanes, and a new SH29 corridor for inter-regional traffic between Redwood Lane and Takitimu Drive.
The highway is a key arterial route linking Auckland, Tauranga and Hamilton - a geographical area known in economic circles as the Golden Triangle.
New Transport Minister David Parker is considering the business case.
Western Bay of Plenty Infrastructure Forum chairman Nigel Tutt, who spoke at the meeting, also said the highway upgrade “must happen now” and the Government needed to step in.
“Tauranga and the Bay of Plenty are at a critical juncture where unlocking the full potential of the region hinges on removing the SH29 bottleneck,” said Tutt, who is also the chief executive of Western Bay economic development group Priority One.
He said what should be a vital transport artery had become a transport and economic choke-point.
Congestion was holding back much-needed housing projects, stifling domestic manufacturing businesses, and threatening export growth and supply chain security, he said.
By addressing this choke-point, more than 20,000 new greenfield homes could be unlocked plus 6500 more jobs in the Tauriko industrial area and more than 11,000 jobs along the transport corridor, Tutt said.
The transit corridor would connect the new homes to more than 70 per cent of commercial activity in Tauranga, schools and hospitals and provide the critical mass needed for frequent public transport services, he said.
“We are already 5000 homes short. That has a knock-on effect on our ability to attract people to work in the city, including its growing industrial park, which could be on track to be the country’s biggest. Meanwhile, transport links within the city and out to the Golden Triangle become more fragile by the day, a serious risk given the national strategic importance of Tauranga.”
Port of Tauranga chief executive Leonard Sampson also said demand on New Zealand’s largest port would continue to increase.
“Investing in SH29 directly supports export growth from the port, contributing significantly to the national economy. It must provide seamless access for freight vehicles, facilitate efficient export of goods, and maintain Tauranga’s strategic hub status,” Sampson said.
Greg Pert, managing director of Tranzliquid Logistics Ltd, said the highway needed to act as a seamless transport corridor, connecting residential areas, industrial zones and key destinations, and facilitating smoother movement of people and goods.
“It is far from that, and it’s imperative we work on a solution now – not in 30 years.”
Tauranga Business Chamber and Waikato Chamber of Commerce said after the meeting that it was a major milestone in securing vital improvements for New Zealand’s supply chain.
Tauranga Business Chamber chief executive Matt Cowley said the Golden Triangle contained half of New Zealand’s population and GDP. It was “crucial” to the county’s economic prosperity the corridor was as efficient as possible.
“However, we believe the future demands on the Hamilton-Tauranga corridor will require the project to be finished in the 2030s, not the 2040s, as the business case currently suggests,” Cowley said.
Waikato Chamber of Commerce chief executive Don Good said the benefits of the project would extend far wider than Tauranga as the Waikato and Bay of Plenty were “intrinsically linked”.
“This work further prioritises the need to upgrade the deadly SH29/SH1 Piarere intersection, with a view to extending the Waikato Expressway through to the Port of Tauranga.”
Asked whether the 2050 timeframe was acceptable, Tauranga MP Sam Uffindell told the Bay of Plenty Times it was “far too long” and he believed the development of SH29 was a “significant opportunity not just for the city but the region and country.
“We have the largest port in New Zealand and freight along this route will increase almost 70 per cent in the coming years,” Uffindell said.
“We also have the fastest-growing city in the country, a significant housing shortfall and the highest house price to income ratio. Redeveloping SH29 will help address all of this by greatly uplifting efficiency and safety on our roading network and unlocking over 20,000 new homes.”
Uffindell said getting proper investment into local state highways was “absolutely critical” as “we already have some of the worst congestion in New Zealand”.
“If NZTA [Waka Kotahi] can sort out our key state highways our transport system will be hugely uplifted, along with the growth potential, productivity, safety and quality of life in the great city of Tauranga.”
Asked what he, would do about this, Uffindell said he looked forward to receiving a copy of the business case “and I will continue advocating hard as the local MP for SH29 to get under way as soon as possible”.
Tauranga-based list MP Jan Tinetti said she was not responsible for the transport portfolio and had not received guidance from the relevant professionals on the business case. Because of this, she would “refrain from commenting on the acceptability of the timeframe”.
“I understand that many people in favour of the changes will want to see them implemented more quickly. My understanding is that Waka Kotahi-NZTA believes that the staged approach to delivery will help deliver the programme in a manner that is intended to be efficient, minimise disruption, reduce cost and ensure that the delivery is proportionate to what is needed at the time.”
Transport Minister David Parker was asked whether he would consider bringing forward the 2050 delivery, and what assurance he could offer that the project - if successfully endorsed by Waka Kotahi - had the Government’s support and commitment.
Parker was also asked his view on how Tauranga could afford to wait until 2050 to progress housing growth areas such as Tauriko reliant on roading infrastructure.
A spokesman for Parker, who replaced Michael Wood as transport minister on June 21, said the minister wasnew to the portfolio.
“He has only just received the detailed business case for this work and is considering it,” the spokesman said.
The business case will now go to a Waka Kotahi board meeting in August. If endorsed, it becomes eligible for National Land Transport Programme funding.
Family say there are two people who may have information but are yet to be located.