Some Katikati business owners are sceptical a bypass around the town will even happen and others are not convinced it will be positive move.
"We have heard it all before,"one business owner, who did not wish to be named, told the Bay of Plenty Times.
On Tuesday, the New Zealand Transport Agency announced a bypass would be added to the State Highway 2 network between Tauranga and Waihi, but details on when work would start, where it would go, and how much it would cost would not available until later this year.
Pete Renwick, owner of Hammer Hardware, said: "People don't listen. Some people say the bypass will be good for business and for the township, and maybe people who have only been lived here for six months hold that view, but lots of long-standing retailers and residents like me don't."
Mr Renwick said there were plenty of examples around the country where putting in a bypass had "buggered up" their town and killed business.