June 2023 - Bay of Plenty Business News

6 BAY OF PLENTY BUSINESS NEWS June 2023
Torturous intersection delays are
impacting region
Frustration at traffic delays within Tauranga have spilled over into
Waikato region as lines of traffic grow ever longer at the vital Pairere
SH29-SH1 intersection, with little indication things will improve in
the short term.
Transport operator Brett Marsh
said the Waikato-BoP region is
starting to grind to a halt with
traffic impacting on operator
productivity and timely
port access.
By RICHARD RENNIE
Brett Marsh owns Brett
Marsh Transport with
wife Leonie and says
transport operators in Waikato-
Bay of Plenty have grown
increasingly frustrated in the
past year over the growing
delays now experienced at the
Pairere-SH1 intersection.
“It has definitely got worse
since the expressway was completed
through the Waikato.
“More drivers are opting to
go via Cambridge to Auckland,
rather than through Katikati.”
He welcomed Waka Kotahi’s
plans for a roundabout at
the intersection, but knew it
would be some time before
that is completed.
“You even have people opting
to go through Morrinsville
now, rather than deal with the
intersection, and it is only 10
minute’s slower that way, at
least you are moving.”
He said it was one of several
pinch points for traffic that
Bay of Plenty-Waikato seemed
peppered with.
Others included coming
It is causing chaos. We cannot
make the times booked at the port
now, and you will be charged a late fee by
Port of Tauranga, on top of your booking
fee. Meantime we are being told by NZTA
to wind our drivers’ hours driving per day
down, yet trucks are sitting longer in
traffic. The entire region is slowly grinding
to a halt.” – Brett Marsh
east into Tauranga, with traffic
jams snarling up into Tauriko
that often extended as far back
as Ruahihi at the foot of the
Kaimai ranges.
His drivers could also
expect to take an hour at times
to travel the mere 11km from
Te Puna to Tauriko, such were
the delays on that corridor
now. “And there is the eastern
corridor which is still not
completed.”
Marsh said cumulatively
the delays are causing major
productivity problems for
companies like his, and for the
region as a whole given its role
serving the country’s largest
port.
“It is causing chaos. We
cannot make the times booked
at the port now, and you will
be charged a late fee by Port of
Tauranga, on top of your booking
fee.
“Meantime we are being
told by NZTA to wind our
drivers’ hours driving per day
down, yet trucks are sitting
longer in traffic. The entire
region is slowly grinding to a
halt.”
A Waka Kotahi spokesperson
confirmed the new roundabout
at the intersection was
scheduled for commencement
this October, with a two-year
completion time.
It was designed to allow
connection with a potential
future expressway between
Cambridge and Piarere.
The original Waikato
Expressway plan had was
intended to extend to the
intersection but was shelved
by Labour in 2018, and no
time has been set for this to
re-commence.
The current intersection
will continue to be used as
the roundabout is being built
on the Hamilton side of the
current intersection, with complete
new approaches from all
routes feeding into it.
Waka Kotahi traffic data
shows the greatest increase in
traffic volume has come from a
11% growth between 2021 and
2022 in traffic travelling north
up SH1 past the intersection.
Traffic travelling east on
SH29 towards Tauranga has
increased 6%, while westbound
traffic on SH29 actually
recorded a decline of 1%.
Average daily traffic counts
through the entire intersection
are up 5.7% in the same
period.
One fatal accident has been
recorded in the past eight years
to late May this year killing
two people, while three serious
injury accidents have occurred
over the same time, seriously
injuring seven people.
Transport organisation Ia
Ara Aotearoa acting CEO Dom
Kalasih said the intersection
was one of several members
had raised as being of concern.
“The expressway (completion)
has definitely increased
the traffic going through that
intersection. I understand a
roundabout has been in the
plan for quite a while, it is
good to know it is coming.”
Last year Tauranga City
commissioner Stephen Sellwood
said Waka Kotahi’s
failure to deliver on transport
infrastructure was causing
serious frustration for the
commission as it attempted to
develop more land.
Tauriko West, identified
for 4000 homes, was dependent
upon uncertain long-term
transport plans, he said.
Transport options were also
based on decade-old traffic
density figures.
Proudly providing expert advice and
adding value to projects across the
Bay of Plenty since 1940.
To experience Cheal’s award winning service,
contact us today.
+64 7 349 8470 | info@cheal.co.nz |
A map of the new roundabout for the Pairere intersection,
to commence in October.