Jo Raphael: Roading upgrades need blue sky thinking

Kiwis inevitably end up sitting in traffic jams. Photo / File

OPINION

Traffic and roadworks. It's become a way of life, here in New Zealand.

Much like a Sunday roast, or heading to the beach for summer, (when you'll likely strike roadworks), traffic for us Kiwis, just "is".

Local and central governments are struggling to keep up with a growing population.

Roading infrastructure in our cities is groaning under the strain of the daily commute.

Details have this week been revealed for Rotorua's confirmed Central Corridor – the stretch of road on State Highway 30A/Amohau St from Old Taupo Rd to Sala St.

Noted "improvements" include no more right turn from Pukuatua St into SH30A, so west-side commuters working in the city must now use the already busy traffic light-controlled intersection of Fenton and Amohau Sts; removal of the slip lane from Hinemaru St on to SH30A/Te Ngae Rd; and the removal of the slip lane from Old Taupo Rd on to SH30A/Amohau St.

I foresee daily traffic snarl-ups.

Rotorua Boys' High School is to get a staggered signalised crossing outside the school.

This particular safety feature can't come soon enough, however, despite the inevitably slowing of traffic on a main road.

Students are having to dart in between traffic on Amohau St to get to the other side of the road, so it's good to see their needs being met in the new plans but where do we draw the line?

Alarmingly, the design does not plan for extra volumes of traffic – no new lanes are being added, roads are not being widened.

This, I believe, is a mistake. While we extol the virtues of cycling and public transport, Kiwis love their cars and populations are growing.

Tauranga road-users fare no better. Tauranga City Council this week approved plans to upgrade Totara St – a main thoroughfare for Mount Maunganui commuters who must not only endure the B2B mess but now another project likely to cause significant delays - during and after its completion.

There have been impassioned pleas from safety and cycling advocates to make these changes, and while creating shared paths and dedicated crossings and cycleways will improve the safety of all road users, councils and central government need to think bigger.

With these, and the already lengthy and disruptive 15th Ave and Te Ngae Rd upgrades this year, Rotorua and Tauranga are in danger of becoming motorway carparks like Auckland.

Upgrading our infrastructure in significant and meaningful ways should be a priority for our local and central roading authorities.

We need to plan for our future population growth projections, not spend taxpayer dollars on patchy or piecemeal band-aid repairs.