The public's overall opinion about the Welcome Bay traffic shambles is on the money, a reader says. Photo / John Borren
Blocking access flawed
Restricting the Harini St access to Turret Rd to a bus lane seems pointless when the issue is that Turret Rd and the Harini Bridge is only one lane each direction.
That is the bottleneck.
It seems that a major outcome of making the Harini St access to Turret Rd into a bus lane is the compounding of the traffic problems through the Welcome Bay and Maungatapu roundabouts.
Surely this is precisely the opposite outcome that NZTA was looking for when it agreed to fund the State Highway underpass.
A trial of re-opening the Hairini St to all traffic should be done, with safe merging practices implemented.
As was discussed with both staff from the NZ Transport Agency and Tauranga City Council at the Harini Marae meeting on July 19, there seems to be plenty of length in the road to somehow manage this.
Implementing T2 or T3 restrictions seems pointless unless the transit lane is continuous over the bridge and up through Turret Rd to Fraser St or beyond.
Also discussed with both staff from the NZ Transport Agency and Tauranga City Council at the Harini Marae meeting, was the dangerous situation for Harini residents to enter and exit the Welcome Bay roundabout.
At least 15 people asked for the road cones to be removed, but that still has not been done. The council apologised to the residents, but nothing has been done to reduce the danger for us. Come on guys, we asked nicely…
Bruce Buchanan
Hairini
Public reaction spot on
The public's overall opinion about the Welcome Bay traffic shambles is on the money and the 100 or so local Hairini residents have every right to be infuriated with the inane bus lane project closing off the lower end of Hairini St (the main thoroughfare) to through traffic for a minuscule number of buses without any public consultation.
How could this possibly be seen an opportunity lost if not done immediately and what extra cost (if any) could be incurred in the future if deferred? Looks to be no openness or transparency here, for locals or other Tauranga residents.
John McCarthy, NZTA project manager, with insensitive comments like "if you don't like it, move out of Tauranga" simply fuel ill feeling.
The arrogance displayed is straight out of the public service PR manual on how (not) to treat Kiwis. Seemingly they have no comprehension about what is going on or the implications for traffic.
The dedicated bus lane only forces all Hairini traffic back into gridlock.
Maungatapu roundabout or down to the underpass lights – what a God almighty mess!
Where do the Ward Councillors Messrs Grainger and Molloy stand on this? (Abridged)
S. Paterson
Ohauiti
Give him access
How the council can arbitrarily put bollards on Matapihi Rail Bridge. in the way of law-abiding citizens before checking with the likes of LTSA is beyond me.
Bill Biehler and his mobility scooter, in my view, poses no threat to anyone on the bridge, and, as he says, there are many wide bits to let people pass.
I guarantee if it were one of those postie cars, no one would have done anything. They are the same size and are permitted to go anywhere.
Since I've been in Tauranga, I have not seen many mobility scooter owners out and about compared to others places I've been.
Give Bill a crack at his trips across the bridge; I'm sure he will be courteous to other bridge users.
Those things are ridiculously expensive and are not very flattering, so I doubt whether we will see an influx of them anytime soon.
Tony Hewitson
Tauranga
Insulting initial offer
The elected councillors have made an "initial" insulting offer to the Bella Vista residents after leaving them waiting without action for another 47 days.
The mayor has also defended the 47 days they kept homeowners waiting before the paltry offer.
He forgets that he and the rest of the staff and elected members who jumped in and closed down the houses, have warm, cosy homes to go to, ratepayers' money in the bank and didn't have to pay mortgages and rates on a property that the council said they couldn't use.
They should stop playing politics with peoples' lives and do the decent thing, state openly that none of the elected members will seek re-election, pay the people out what they want then seek redress from the builder.
They closed them down; these 'unsafe' houses are still standing, so they should sort their mess out and as quickly as possible. If it were up to me, I'd lock them in a room and not let them out until it was sorted.
Kevin Reade
Pyes Pa