Some traffic on 15th Ave is travelling through faster while others remain waiting even longer than normal. Photo / George Novak
Some traffic on 15th Ave is travelling through faster while others remain waiting even longer than normal. Photo / George Novak
Motorists travelling through a new set of traffic lights on 15th Ave are already experiencing swifter commuting times less than a week since they were activated.
But those hoping to shortcut through residential side streets have been kept waiting.
The new signals at the intersection of 15th Ave and Burrows St were activated at 6am on Thursday after months of construction work in the area, which is yet to be completed.
Tauranga City Council general manager of infrastructure Nic Johansson said there was already an improvement to 15th Ave's typical traffic congestion on the first day of the traffic lights operating.
However, traffic on the intersecting Burrows St experienced increased delays "as planned", to give more time to 15th Ave traffic, he said.
The $1.85 million infrastructure project is aimed at creating more traffic flow on the 15th Ave corridor - particularly between Cameron and Turret Rds - to alleviate the traffic numbers using the residential side streets as shortcuts. Motorists letting shortcut takers in is considered to be a significant contributing factor to the area's congestion issues.
Johansson said there had previously been queues and blocked intersections between 3pm and 5.30pm weekdays. On Thursday, there was generally "little traffic backed up compared to usual".
The average travel time dropped from seven minutes to one minute in these peak times.
The intersection of 15th Ave and Burrows St is one of the most congested spots in Tauranga and people are divided on the council's efforts to alleviate it. Photo / George Novak
Johansson said the first day went mostly as planned. However, there were surprises.
"Some drivers did not adhere to the red arrows and turned on a red signal, while some drivers also stopped over the pedestrian/cycle crossing rather than at the new stop line 5m back," he said.
"We expect this to decrease as drivers become familiar with the new intersection and the way it operates."
The average daily vehicle count for as recent as the week of June 17 was 26,966. The council would continue to monitor the signals and make changes to the traffic light timings "as needed to optimise the traffic flows".
The traffic lights are part of a larger project to make 15th Ave safer and easier for people who live, work and go to school in the Avenues and for people who commute along 15th Ave each day.
A motorist who previously had opted to use the side streets, who would not be named, said his travel time on 15th Ave on Thursday had dropped dramatically compared to previous commutes.
The man said he usually spent about 20 minutes stuck in traffic congestion travelling east on 15th Ave but travelled "straight through" about 4.15pm.
Congestion on 15th Ave has been a problem for a long time, made worse by people using a short cut via Burrows St. Photo / File
Another motorist, who would not be named, said she spent just five minutes in the typical congestion point travelling east on 15th Ave about 5pm on Friday which she said was "great".
But not everyone is pleased.
Nico Davis said she travelled through about 10.30am on Thursday and it took 30 minutes just to travel towards town across the Hairini Bridge.
"We were stuck for ages."
Another motorist, who also would not be named, said her typical commute from Welcome Bay to Bethlehem for work took 15 to 20 minutes but now it took nearly an hour.
The woman leaves home about 12.30pm each day to start work at 1.30pm each day.
"I finish at 8.30pm so I don't get as much traffic and normally hit green lights by the time I get to them," she said.
"It's just on the way to work that's annoying but it might get better hopefully as the roadworks finish."
Last week, businesses in the area labelled the invasive project as "ridiculous", saying they had been negatively impacted.
The challenge of 15th Avenue - 15th Ave is a key transport corridor between the city centre and Welcome Bay, Maungatapu, Hairini and Ōhauiti - Approximately 26,000 vehicles use it every day - Most vehicles on this route are single-occupancy - Peak-time congestion on this route affects journey time reliability and safety of vehicle drivers, pedestrians, cyclists and other vulnerable road users - Traffic entering from side roads creates delays for people moving along 15th Ave - The merge from two lanes to one immediately after the Fraser St intersection creates queues. This prevents vehicles from proceeding through the intersection on a green light, which in turn affects the overall efficiency of this intersection - Public transport efficiency is impacted by peak-time congestion *Source - Tauranga City Council
