Tauranga's council lambasted over Greerton's traffic woes

Greerton resident Les Wallen let rip at Tauranga City Council's elected members and staff while making a submission about the suburb's traffic issues. Photo / Andrew Warner

Tauranga City Council has agreed to look into ways it can help fix Greerton's traffic woes.

Applause and cheers erupted from the public gallery at the council's transport committee meeting yesterday as Greerton resident Les Wallen told elected members recent roadworks were a "fiasco" and a "disaster".

The fiery meeting drew a packed audience.

The council's $2.44 million roading project in the village was aimed at making the area safer but the changes have drawn criticism from residents and businesses.

Approximately 695 people signed a petition that was presented yesterday, calling for remedial action.

"What the local businesses asked for was traffic lights on the original pedestrian crossing," Wallen told the council.

"There was no actual problem in Greerton... somehow, you managed to turn the simple request on behalf of businesses and motorists into an expensive... safety issue about pedestrians."

People called out "hear, hear" in support of Wallen's submission.

The issue of the Greerton traffic safety improvements was discussed for two hours.

Councillor Terry Molloy said: "Nobody disagrees that we have problems in Greerton."

Councillor Bill Grainger asked acting general manager of infrastructure Martin Parkes why congestion was not given consideration at all during the inception of the project "and what steps are we prepared to take to try to improve this?"

Parkes said alleviating congestion was not part of goals his team were tasked with. He said Greerton's congestion issues could be the result of significant population growth in area.

When Parkes said the project was a success, in terms of meeting its outlined goals, members of the public gallery jeered with one man calling out "What world do you live in?"

When things became heated committee chairman Councillor Rick Curach asked Wallen, and members of the public gallery, to refrain from personal attacks on council staff.

The council agreed to engage consultants to investigate options for improving the situation, including moving the pedestrian crossing and exploring the idea of a pedestrian overpass or underpass.