State Highway 29A in Tauranga reopened Tuesday morning with speed restrictions as work to repair a large tomo continues.
The road at Oropi had been closed since Friday after the 4m deep, 4m wide cavity – stretching at least 11m across the width of the highway - was discovered.
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency said SH29A will close Wednesday and Thursday night from 7pm to 6am for repair work to continue.
Totara St also reopened about 4am Tuesday.
Tauranga residents were urged to delay travel or work from home due to emergency roading repairs - and they listened.
Waka Kotahi has praised motorists who heeded warnings of major delays after a tomo was discovered on State Highway 29A on Friday afternoon, combined with an unavoidable lane closure on Totara St in Mount Maunganui.
Both roads are expected to reopen this morning.
Traffic flowed smoothly despite urgent repairs being carried out on the highway.
“It was a 4m deep and 4m wide tomo or cavity – stretching at least 11m across the width of the highway,” said Roger Brady, Waka Kotahi’s acting manager of maintenance and operations in the Bay of Plenty in a written statement.
“The hole was caused by the failure of a stormwater drain, which likely occurred some time ago. Effectively, water leaking out of pipes formed a kind of underground stream which led to the erosion under the road.
“The section of SH29A between Barkes Corner and Oropi Rd rundabout has been fully closed since Friday night, for repairs.
“Our contractors have worked around the clock to replace 38m of stormwater pipe – which has meant digging up the whole road.
“We’ve backfilled the trench and we’re now in the process of building the road back up,” Brady said.
“Our team will continue to work into the night to get the road open to traffic by tomorrow [Tuesday] morning’s peak.
“Road users need to be aware that they won’t be driving over the final asphalt seal but the road will be surfaced. There will be traffic management in place and a reduced speed limit of 50km/h. Full night-time closures will be required over two nights on Wednesday and Thursday to lay a bit more pipe at either end, install manholes and connections, and reinstate the excavated areas alongside the road.
“NZTA would like to thank Tauranga road users for heeding warnings about expected traffic congestion this morning. Delays were anticipated due to the sudden closure of SH29A, combined with a lane closure on Totara St for Tauranga City Council road rebuilding work.
“We suggested road users avoid travelling this morning, work from home or use alternative transport if they could – and they listened.
“We wanted to ensure that anyone who absolutely had to travel could get through without extended delays. In the end, there were around 20-minute delays at SH29A, which is similar to regular weekday peak-hour delays,” Brady said.
To help ease pressure on the network, NZTA rescheduled planned chip sealing of SH2 between Ōmokoroa and Bethlehem last night and tonight to ease congestion coming into the city.
“We’d like to thank Tauranga City Council for their help, and the people of Tauranga for their patience while we complete the urgent repairs on SH29A. Traffic may be heavy again during peak times this afternoon but we’re doing everything we can to get SH29A open again for tomorrow morning,” Brady said.
Meanwhile, Tauranga City Council has confirmed the northbound lane closure of Totara St will end at 4am tomorrow.
Earlier today Google Maps live traffic showed congestion around the Tauranga Harbour Bridge and Hewletts Rd but a Bay of Plenty Times reporter said traffic had been flowing normally at Barkes Corner and Cameron Rd roundabout during morning peak hours.
In a written statement on Sunday, the council said it was expecting “major traffic delays and severe congestion” and urged commuters to work from home, ride share or use alternative transport if they could.
In a statement today, Richard Eaton, the council’s transport network operations manager, said the council was “very thankful to the community for heeding calls to allow extra travel time, use other modes of transport or to avoid the area if possible.
“This has allowed traffic to flow relatively well given the disruptions and diversions. We had reports of 20-minute delays at SH29A which is similar to regular weekday peak-hour delays,” he said.
As expected, travel time in and around Totara St (Hewletts Rd, Maunganui Rd, Hull Rd) took longer than normal this morning, especially between 8am and 9am due to the northbound lane closure, Eaton said.
“But it wasn’t as disruptive as the prior closure due to a combination of fewer people travelling, and the Baypark to Bayfair Link and Cameron Rd Stage 1 projects being completed.”
Eaton said because the reconstruction work at Totara St had progressed “quicker than planned” and given the delays from SH29A, the lane would reopen a day early at 4am tomorrow.
A spokesman for Totara St business North Island Forklifts said the build-up of traffic was not as bad as expected, including on Maunganui Rd and Newton St.
“To be fair [the amount of traffic] it was literally a lot less than when they closed one lane of Totara [St] last year, and I was able to scoot along in my car.”
The spokesman said it was clear officials had got their traffic management systems right as it was a “lot smoother” getting to work. However, he said depending on the amount of traffic when he headed home along Hewletts Rd later today, he may well have a “very different opinion” tomorrow.
Pyes Pa resident Raewyn James, who was walking down to the Greerton Village shops, said she was surprised the Barkes Corner roundabout wasn’t as congested as she had expected it to be today.
“There’s usually a lot more traffic at this time of day. It’s normally banked up right up Pyes Pā Rd to Manor Park Dr and sometimes right down to the Pyes Pā Rd shops.
“It would be great if it was like this every day.”
Among comments posted to the Bay of Plenty Times Facebook page, Natalie Fleming wrote: “Hewletts Rd traffic is a piece of cake. Everyone must be WFH [working from home] lol.”
The council was doing all it could to help the situation, including opening the eastbound Hewletts Rd bus lane for all vehicles going toward Maunganui Rd, it said.
The council thanked the community for their patience and understanding while work was under way to repair both roads.
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.