Wilson Osteopathy clinical director Andrew Wilson said clients have been cancelling because of the roadworks. Photo / Sun Media
Wilson Osteopathy clinical director Andrew Wilson said clients have been cancelling because of the roadworks. Photo / Sun Media
Roadworks on one of Tauranga’s main roads are hurting businesses, with one owner saying if her parking goes from out front, she’ll have to “shut up shop”.
And a commercial property owner in the area believes 7th Ave is the “sacrificial lamb” in the project.
The Cameron Rd end of 7th Ave will become a cul de sac, preventing any access from the street on to or from Cameron Rd. Businesses on Cameron Rd and 7th Ave are understood to also lose parking as a result of the change.
The project by the Tauranga City Council is adding a separate two-way cycleway, bus lanes and making layout changes to Cameron Rd between Harrington St and 17th Ave.
Century-old infrastructure including sewerage and wastewater pipes, and stormwater treatments, was also being upgraded.
Lina Chea, the owner of Sand Bakery and Cafe, said business had started to slow down since the roadworks started. The majority of her customers park out front of her bakery, on Cameron Rd between 7th and 8th Aves, to stop in and quickly get food, so parking was really important, said Chea.
”They [the council] have blocked all the corner parking already. If they block in front of us as well, maybe I need to shut the shop.”
A parking bay at the start of 7th Ave is no longer accessible from Cameron Rd and it will be reduced to two parking spaces and green space once the project is complete.
The parking directly out front of Sand Bakery will become a bus stop and parking has been moved further up the road, but is part of the bus lane so would not be available during morning and afternoon peak traffic.
Wilson Osteopathy clinical director Andrew Wilson questioned why 7th Ave was the only street chosen to become a cul de sac.
“7th Ave is actually a very high thoroughfare avenue. That’s going to be quite inconvenient for all the people who do need to access [it] and need access to the parking.” he said.
There were a number of high-traffic businesses at the start of the street and four health centres further up, including his own, said Wilson.
Around 50 clients a day visited his clinic, he said. The traffic and roadworks were already having an impact on business, with people running late or cancelling because they could not make appointments on time, he said.
As part of the Cameron Rd Project, 7th Ave will become a cul de sac. Photo / John Borren, Sun Media
”We probably don’t see that recovering to any great extent. Because I don’t think people are going to want to come into town so much any more with Cameron Rd being so restricted in traffic flow, with access being more difficult, and parking being more difficult.”
Wilson said they had asked the council to make 7th Ave a left turn-in only but had “not much joy”.
Council director of transport Brendan Bisley said that during the planning and design stage, several side streets were considered to become cul de sacs, or left-in/left-out only, to reduce vehicle turning movements on to Cameron Rd and allow safer and better walking and cycling.
”The final design includes a cul de sac at 7th Ave and a number of side streets restricted to left-in/left-out only to provide better pedestrian links and green spaces.
“7th Ave was chosen as suitable for a cul de sac as it had good alternative connections for residents on to Cameron Rd, which would still be accessible for traffic from 8th Ave and 6th Ave,” he said.
”To mitigate removed parking, additional time-restricted spaces will be installed on the side roads and additional angle parking spaces provided where possible.”
Building owners were also worried their investments would lose value with the road changes and be more difficult to tenant.
Simon Clark owns a commercial property on 7th Ave that is tenanted and believed the changes would have a “negative effect”.
”People want ease to access with commercial properties so it’s definitely going to affect the long-term leaseability of the property,” he said.
Clark also questioned why 7th Ave was the only one being blocked off, especially as 5th Ave was proposed to be a cul de sac as well, but the council changed this after consultation with businesses and residents.
In his view: ”We didn’t pick up on it and it was very poorly publicly notified, then we’re the weakest link. None of the avenues wanted to be closed. We are just the unlucky ones that weren’t told correctly about it.
Christine Currie owns 405 Cameron Rd -where Bay of Plenty Times publisher NZME is based- and said the value of her multimillion-dollar property could drop by several hundred thousand dollars because it is no longer a corner site.
”I went and got a valuation from a registered valuer, and it takes a hunk of value off the building.”
Bisley said the council had been working on the project with businesses along Cameron Rd for the past few years.
”Communications and consultation have been carried out with businesses and residents along this section of Cameron Rd since 2018 about the plans, designs and construction work, including door knocking and letter drops.
“The design plans were made publicly available in March 2021 and shared with businesses, and have been available on the project webpage since then,” he said.
“Cameron Rd needs to provide for all transport modes to a high standard and one of the key outcomes of the project is to make Cameron Rd safer for all users.
”We want to create a destination, not just a commuting corridor.”
- Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
