Welcome Bay bus lane postponed until underpass opens

Work is nearly finished on the $45 million Maungatapu underpass below State Highway 29. Photo/George Novak

The plan to build a dedicated bus lane along a 450m section of Welcome Bay Rd has been pushed out after striking opposition from residents.

Tauranga City Council transportation manager Martin Parkes said the proposed lane would improve the reliability of buses by giving each bus a 65-car advantage at morning peaks.

He said safety was a priority and the council needed to be satisfied that all safety concerns would be addressed.

''Residents have told us they are particularly concerned about the loss of the median strip, which affects their ability to make a safe right turn into their driveways.''

When the bus lane was first announced a fortnight ago, the council's hope was to have it in place by the end of April or early May.

''The timeline is being pushed out a few months while we work through some solutions.''

Parkes said it would also give the council a chance to monitor traffic when the Maungatapu underpass opened in June.

The announcement came after Welcome Bay resident Alan Northcote asked the council to delay construction of the bus lane for at least a month after the underpass had opened.

He joined other residents with concerns about losing the median strip along the centre of Welcome Bay Rd, saying it also offered a safe right-turn bay for motorists coming from the other direction, such as turning into the Welcome Bay Foodmarket.

Northcote said there was no backlog of traffic in the morning from 7am to 9am during school holidays.

He has timed traffic when school was in and found that the maximum saving for a bus travelling in the bus lane would be about two minutes. This was based on the 30 seconds it took for a car to travel the 450m bus lane on the Tuesday after Easter when schools were out, compared with the two-and-a-half minutes it took when schools were back.

Meanwhile, work was due to begin next Monday to connect the underpass with existing roads - coinciding with school holidays.

New Zealand Transport Agency projects team manager John McCarthy said the work was expected to take up to two weeks, with the majority of work at night.

''The agency will do as much work as it can during the school holidays to minimise the impact on traffic. However, road users can expect some delays during the day due to speed restrictions.''

Starting Monday, drivers would face lane diversions, speed restrictions, unsealed surfaces and off-peak/night works on Welcome Bay Rd near Greenwood Park. Lane diversions, speed restrictions and temporary pedestrian diversions would be imposed on Welcome Bay Rd near Awanui Place.

Resurfacing the SH29 Hairini and Maungatapu roundabouts was expected to happen mid-May while connecting the underpass with Turret Rd and Hairini St was expected to start late May.

Benefits from building the Maungatapu underpass
• Cycleway to improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists
• Better traffic flow on SH29 through the Maungatapu and Hairini roundabouts
• Separates local traffic from highway traffic