Opinion: Tauranga - where driving 7.7km takes 53 minutes

A 7.7km journey from Welcome Bay to Eleventh Ave took 53 minutes. Photo / George Novak

According to Google Maps, the route I drove to work on Wednesday was 7.7km and should be an 11-minute journey.

Instead, it took 53 minutes to drive from Ranginui Rd, where I decided to start recording at 7.46am, to the 11th Ave roundabout, arriving at 8.39am.

The largest chunk of that trip, which averaged nearly seven minutes per kilometre, was spent on Welcome Bay Rd, even taking 11 minutes to travel the 1.1km to Village Park Rd.

Ridiculous.

I even spotted a tradie jogging towards the shops, in his work boots, passing dozens of vehicles at a standstill.

By the time I got out of the underpass, it was 8.27am - which should have been a six-minute trip - taking 41 minutes. Who wants to waste that much time? I know I definitely started becoming resentful driving that road.

The road obviously cannot handle that many cars, and while I noticed many vehicles carrying only the driver, the simple solution of drivers using a bus, bike or carpooling, will not work for everyone.

Some real, long-term planning for the roading network in that area wouldn't have gone amiss.