Tauranga's new road 'not a racetrack'

Motorists are driving in excess of 125 km/h on the new Tauranga Eastern Link road. Photo / Supplied

Motorists are driving in excess of 125 km/h on the new Tauranga Eastern Link road and police, who fear someone could be killed, say the road is "not a racetrack".

The stretch of State Highway 2 between Te Maunga and Domain Rd opened in May and since then motorists have been caught driving at excessive speeds.

While the construction was underway the stretch of SH3 was narrow and has speed restrictions, Senior Sergeant Ian Campion said.

Motorists were now faced with four-lane open stretch of road and treating it as a racetrack, Mr Campion said.

"We are not just talking about drivers whose speed has drifted up a notch through lack of concentration, we are talking about high speeds, well in excess of the limit, and in most cases these appear to be deliberate acts."

"If this carries on it will only be a matter of time before someone is seriously injured or worse," Mr Campion said.

On Sunday five motorists were caught driving in excess of 117 km/h, the drivers ranged from an 18-year-old male on a restricted licence to a woman in her 60s.

On Monday four motorists were caught driving in excess of 125 km/h and ranged from a male learner driver, through to an experienced female driver in her 40s. Police would not be disclose the precise speeds or the top speed.

The highway is due to be completed shortly with the opening of the remainder of the road, and police are encouraging everyone who uses the road to make safety their number one priority.

Mr Campion said police would be paying extra attention to the Tauranga Eastern Link (TEL) and people caught travelling at unsafe speeds could expect to be fined, could incur demerit points and could potentially lose their licence.

The New Zealand Transport Agency's Bay of Plenty highways manager Niclas Johansson said the TEL had been designed to reduce death and serious injury crashes in the region, but people need to do their part and travel at safe speeds.

"We're working hard with Police, the AA and our other road safety partners to create a safe transport system where no-one is killed or seriously injured due to a simple mistake."