An Ōmokoroa mum fed up with worsening traffic delays on State Highway 2 to Tauranga is putting her new house up for rent and looking for something closer to town.
Another mum from the peninsula has moved her child to a daycare in town so she can get to work on time.
They are among many motorists growing increasingly frustrated with traffic delays on the stretch of highway used by more than 25,000 vehicles a day.
Both local councils, as well as the transport agency, say they were aware of the frustrations the congestion was causing.
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency and Tauranga City Council are carrying out separate roading projects between Ōmokoroa and Bethlehem and have warned delays would continue for some time.
It comes after Western Bay of Plenty District Council mayor James Denyer said he will fight to keep construction on track for the Takitimu North Link - an alternative to SH2 - after it was included in a list of roading projects that could be delayed due to budget overruns.
Construction on Stage One, connecting Tauranga and Te Puna, has started, with route protection in progress for State Two, Te Puna to Ōmokoroa.
One Ōmokoroa resident not willing to wait is mum-of-two Ebony Kahukura, who is putting her newly built home of two years up for rent and applying for Tauranga rentals after her commute went from 25 minutes last year to 1-1.5 hours in the last two weeks.
Although it will be slightly more expensive than her mortgage, she said it would make life easier for her young family.
She said she had noticed the traffic getting progressively worse since February, when Te Puna Station Rd was closed due to storm damage.
On Tuesday, she left at 6.30am and got to work just after her 8am start time. She described the journey as “dead time”.
She had tried leaving later hoping to miss the peak traffic but found she would rather be early, and on Wednesday morning, her kids were with their dad so she left at 5.50am. The drive took 20 minutes.
“You shouldn’t have to do that when you’re only 17km from your work.”
With children, it was not realistic to leave at dawn each day.
“It’s too much pressure getting them out of bed, dressed and in a car by 6.30am only to sit there for an hour and a half.
“It’s just gotten too much so I’ve been applying for rentals in town and we’re going to rent out my whare.”
While it would be slightly more expensive, she had “weighed it up”.
“It’s just going to make life easier, just better quality for us.”
Shontelle Castledine has already enrolled her child in a new daycare, starting in two weeks’ time, because of the traffic.
She said it took her 1.5 hours to get to work on Wednesday - and 17 minutes longer the day before.
The usually two-minute leg from Flounder Dr to the end of Ōmokoroa Rd alone took 25 minutes on Tuesday and 15 minutes on Wednesday.
She said it was “extremely frustrating” and a waste of fuel and time.
She said she could not drop her daughter at daycare in Ōmokoroa until 7.30am. Moving to one in Judea meant she could leave the peninsula earlier, do the drop-off and get to work on time.
A reader who would not be named told the Bay of Plenty Times it took him 1.5 hours to get from Ōmokoroa to just off 15th Ave on Wednesday.
“I used to factor in a one-hour trip as the worst-case scenario, and 50 per cent of the time it was about 25 to 30 minutes but the new reality doesn’t seem to be changing any time soon.”
Western Bay council infrastructure group general manager and deputy chief executive Gary Allis said it was exploring ways to get traffic moving quicker, including closing off some side roads used as rat runs that added friction to the “highway flow”.
“The fundamental issue is that the road is being used beyond its capacity.”
Capacity was further limited over the last couple of weeks by SH2 roadworks.
He said the immediate problem “should improve slightly” as the roadworks were completed in the coming weeks. They were scheduled to last three months, but the situation may ease earlier as the road surface improved, he said.
“The long-term problem will improve once the Takitimu North Link Stage One is built.”
Tauranga City Council director of transport Brendan Bisley said daytime delays on SH2 were due to traffic volumes, seasonal work and people changing their commute habits.
He said the council acknowledged work for the Wairoa Cycleway also contributed.
He said it communicated to locals that off-road work was continuing on the cycleway, on the underpass under the bridge.
On-road kerb-and-channel work at Taniwha Pl was done before Waka Kotahi’s resealing, and further on-road work would be done afterwards.
This would be done at night with some traffic management during the day.
The Wairoa Cycleway will complete the Ōmokoroa to Tauranga cycleway and ensure safe cycling on this narrow stretch of road. A new speed limit of 50km/h will be in place once the cycleway is completed.
Waka Kotahi NZ said in a media release last Thursday there were two pieces of work happening on the stretch of highway, which was “incredibly sensitive” to changes in traffic flow.
On Sunday the agency started a major rehabilitation of SH2, between the Wairoa bridge and Bethlehem.
Work included completely rebuilding and asphalting the road surface and was expected to continue until June. There would be overnight road closures next Wednesday and Sunday.
Waka Kotahi maintenance and operations regional manager Rob Campbell said there has been an increase of more than 6000 vehicles per day on the corridor in the last 10 years, rising from about 18,300 in 2012 to current estimates of over 25,000.
He said the works were being done at night with both lanes open during the day and a 50km/h limit in place to minimise disruption.
The “sheer volume” of traffic appeared to be the main cause of congestion, he said, which was putting pressure on the network.
“The pressure on this road has been felt for some time, from what was once a rural road passing through a few settlements, it has developed into a busy commuter and freight route.”
He said traffic data showed drivers were staggering the time they travel on SH2, with peak travel expanding from 6am to 9am to its current span of 6am to 10.30am.
Some alternative routes were also closed with the kiwifruit season under way, which concentrated the congestion on the highway.
He said more than $900 million was being invested in the corridor, which “will save lives” and make the region a better place to live and visit.
“We know there is a lot to do across this stretch of SH2 and we cannot do it all at once. This rapidly growing region is receiving significant transport investment, and it will take us time to implement all that is needed.”
Along with the Takitimu North Link, the SH2 Waihī to Ōmokoroa safety improvements were under construction, the Western Bay council’s Ōmokoroa Rd Intersection project was being planned and SH2 Te Puna to Ōmokoroa safety improvements were in the design phase.
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