Tauranga regional leaders speak out over $2b-plus roading overhaul

Assistant News Director and Multimedia Journalist·Bay of Plenty Times·

28 Jun, 2023 06:03 AM7 mins to read

Western Bay of Plenty District Council Mayor James Denyer, Bay of Plenty Regional Council chairman Doug Leeder and Tauranga City Council commission chairwoman Anne Tolley, pictured at a combined council meeting on a potential overhaul of the city’s Western Corridor. Photo / Alex Cairns

Tauranga and Western Bay of Plenty’s “heavy hitters” gathered as one to back a “critical” potential $2.8 billion overhaul of the city’s Western Corridor, with hopes of completion by 2050.

But the plan did not escape heavy criticism about why it would take so long to deliver on, with an economic leader saying some leaders won’t necessarily still be around when it comes time to cut the ribbon.

Western Bay of Plenty District Council, Bay of Plenty Regional Council, SmartGrowth Partnership and the Tauranga City Council Commission took the unique step of gathering at the same table at Regional House on Tuesday to hear Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency present its plan.

The Tauriko SH29 Network Connections Detailed Business Case recommends six-laning SH29 from Takitimu Drive to Barkes Corner, including bus lanes, widening of SH36 between Lakes Boulevard and SH29A, also including bus lanes, and a new SH29 corridor for inter-regional traffic between Redwood Lane and Takitimu Drive.

It was hoped the highway overhaul would help to unlock Tauriko housing needed for roading infrastructure to progress.

The estimated project cost was $2.2b to 2.7b if delivered as a single stage or between $2.3b and $2.8b if delivered in four stages. The transport agency recommended the latter.

Waka Kotahi regional manager of system design Jess Andrew said there was “a lot to do before we start construction” but the final stage “could be brought forward early if there’s funding”.

Some environmental factors such as a potential realignment of the Kopurererua Valley stream were included, she said.

Andrew also said the agency would monitor traffic via “lead indicators” which could alert it if the roading network was reaching or was at capacity, signalling a potential need to bring proposed project dates forward.

Following the presentation, each council and Smartgrowth held meetings of their own, with each choosing to endorse the plan. It will now be presented in an August transport agency board meeting for its support. If successful, the plan could then be eligible for National Land Transport Programme funding.

But reliance on the Government for funding, as well as the 2050 timeframe, was of concern.

Tauranga council commission chairwoman Anne Tolley - who began the meeting by announcing, “We have all the heavy hitters at the top of the table here” - said she did not see how the plan was going to work.

“I know it all sounds logical and good in theory, but in reality, we won’t be able to build houses without the roads, but we can’t get the roads without the houses ... it’s not going to work,” Tolley said.

Bay of Plenty regional councillor Jane Nees questions Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency's plan to help ease Tauranga's congestion, part of its Tauriko plans. Photo / Alex Cairns

“Secondly, I look at your Stage 4 ... you are not going to start building the road until the need is proven, then it will take 10 years to construct, by which time it will be under spec for what the growth will be then.”

Tolley said the region had not been given the infrastructure it needed and central government “of many colours” had let the region down.

“We need it fast. We need to commit.”

Bay of Plenty regional councillor Jane Nees echoed Tolley’s concerns, saying there was already “significant congestion”.

“People report [it takes] one-and-a-half hours to make a journey that used to be made in 20 minutes.

Jess Andrew, regional manager of system design for Waka Kotahi, pictured presenting to representatives of Tauranga City Council, Bay of Plenty Regional Council, Western Bay of Plenty District Council and the SmartGrowth Leadership Group. Photo / Alex Cairns

“We are already suffering,” Nees said.

“If we have to wait 20 years, I shudder to think what the loss of productivity will be.”

Nees asked for, and was given, assurance the project could be brought forward if congestion levels got worse.

Commissioner Selwood said: “Waiting for 2050 is just not tenable.”

Selwood said house prices in Tauranga were “already through the roof”, with the region having the highest ratio of house prices to income in New Zealand.

“The reason for that is we haven’t provided the infrastructure in a traditional way - to open up the land to drive down house prices,” he said.

“Wouldn’t it be better to have the infrastructure to enable growth rather than react to it?”

Bay of Plenty regional councillor Ken Shirley told Andrew he was not convinced monitoring should dictate when the work should start.

“The need is [already] overwhelming. I think we should learn from history.”

Bay of Plenty Regional councillor Ken Shirley has concerns about the proposed monitoring of Tauriko's traffic. Photo / Alex Cairns

Shirley referenced the Auckland Harbour Bridge and how the North Shore “boomed” once the appropriate infrastructure was retrospectively put in on the bridge.

“There’s so much pressure for growth and we are behind it.”

Western Bay councillor Anne Henry expressed concern at the potential back and forth of projects, using SH2 to Ōmokoroa, which “has been a blight in our travel path for a long time”, as an example.

“It seems like the political environment of whoever on the day is holding us by the strings ... ‘‘

Henry questioned how, as a council, it could be expected to put people in a housing growth area when the promise of roading infrastructure “can just be taken away”.

“It’s like, ‘Hello?’ You wouldn’t do that to a child, why do it do us?

“It’s not helping the economy.”

In the regional council meeting, chairman Doug Leeder said he did not think the plans were “aspirational enough” and urged the agency “to take our community seriously”.

Western Bay council deputy chief executive and infrastructure group general manager Gary Allis said it was important not to lose sight of the Takitimu North Link, which was still a priority.

Referencing Henry’s concerns, Allis stated that had the highway project been carried out as originally planned, it would have been completed by 2015.

Western Bay Deputy Mayor John Scrimgeour said “over the last 25 years, the population of the sub-region has increased by about 80 per cent”.

In his view: “If you assume another 70 to 80 per cent growth, even this [plan] will be insufficient. To suggest some of these can actually wait until 2050 seems utterly ridiculous.”

Western Bay councillor Margaret Murray-Benge said the region was in “catch-up mode”.

Mayor James Denyer said the plan was “vital”.

Western Bay of Plenty District councillor Anne Henry tells Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency she's sick of the back and forth of funding for local roading projects. Photo / Alex Cairns

During the SmartGrowth meeting, Priority One chief executive and chairman of the Western Bay of Plenty Infrastructure Forum, Nigel Tutt, said the sub-region needed to be united and it was important to progress the plans.

However, like most others, he was of the view “2050 will not cut the mustard”.

“I’m sure there are many here who will want to cut the ribbon, but I’m not sure they will necessarily still be around.”

Commissioner Bill Wasley, a former SmartGrowth chairman, referenced plans from 2009 and 2013 that were “pretty much the same issues, the only difference is the numbers”.

They also highlighted limited Government funding, he said.

A united voice was now needed to ensure the region was first in the line for funding from the Government, he said.

The meeting concluded with unanimous support and a round of applause.

“This is, from my perspective, quite a significant moment,” Wasley said.

After the meetings, Andrew told the Bay of Plenty Times most of the delay in construction was because, if the plan was ultimately approved, the transport agency would spend three to six years going through Resource Management Act approval and property procurement. Only then could construction begin.

“SH29 being started in 2041 - that’s based on what is actually needed to address congestion and traffic movement in the area,” she said.

Asked what assurances could be given to people already frustrated with existing congestion levels, Andrew said this would be fixed as part of Stage 3 in the plan.

“With the lead indicators, we are not waiting until something is broken. They will tell us [when to start].”