Bay of Plenty MP Todd Muller accused Jones of paying "lip service" to the issue.
"It's all good and well for Mr Jones to ride into town and pay lip service to the issue, but what our community really needs to see is some action," Muller said.
Fix the Bloody Road campaign leader Andrew Hollis was not especially encouraged by Jones' comment and said he "wasn't holding [his] breath" over today's announcement.
He said he had heard months of similar noises from politicians during a "frustrating" wait for funding allocation news.
He said he hoped the high profile campaign to fix "New Zealand's deadliest road" had put politicians in a position where they would have to "do the right thing".
He said a win would be funding to make the highway four lanes with a median strip from Tauranga to Omokoroa.
Hollis said the group also wanted to see the Omokoroa interchange completed, safety improvements from Omokoroa to Waihi done and the Katikati bypass funded.
The agency has already committed $87.1 million towards safety improvements between Waihi and Omokoroa over the next five years. The first of 10 stages of work was due to begin construction later this year.
A spokeswoman confirmed there would be no announcement today about the Tauranga Northern Link, which was a new 6.8km section of state highway that would connect Takitimu Drive Toll Rd through to Loop Rd, just west of Te Puna.
The agency was reviewing that project to see if it aligned with the new Government's vision for the transport network.
"This is really important work that our teams are working hard on, but it will not be completed at the time the National Land Transport Plan is adopted.
"Once this work has been completed, work on these projects may proceed as currently planned, be staged differently or explore lower-cost options."
