The impact of the Tauranga Eastern Link on Te Puke will be massive.
Yesterday, the Bay of Plenty Times reported there will be up to 42,000 fewer vehicles a week going through the town when the link is completed.
An estimated 6000 vehicles would use the TEL each day and that figure is expected to grow. The $455 million project is on track to be completed in late 2015. It says something about business confidence in the area that leaders in Te Puke are seeing the change as an opportunity and not a threat.
Gary Allis, Western Bay of Plenty District Council engineering services group manager, says the vast majority of that traffic would not have stopped in town anyway and 13,000 to 15,000 vehicles per day were still likely to travel into and through the main street.
Although lower traffic volumes may result in reduced customer numbers for businesses, Te Puke, the kiwifruit capital of New Zealand, is a destination in its own right, he says. Others say the redirection of traffic will provide an opportunity for locals to take back their town.
