Papamoa road 'accident waiting to happen'

TIGHT SQUEEZE: Papamoa triathlete David Cox is concerned at the state of Papamoa Beach Road and the minimal room made available to cyclists in the area.PHOTO/GEORGE NOVAK

A Tauranga triathlete says he believes it is only a matter of time before a cyclist is seriously hurt because of the poor state of Papamoa Beach Rd.

David Cox usually cycles the stretch of road about three times a week and has become fed up at navigating the tiny space within the white line and edge of the road in some parts of eastern Papamoa.

"I have nearly been knocked off my bike three times in two years due to the roadside, which is either just a hole or rocks or full of water after raining," he said.

Mr Cox has lived in Papamoa east for 10 years and said the state of the road combined with the area's ballooning population and increased traffic was an accident waiting to happen.

"I've had one or two cars nearly hit me with their wing mirrors," he said.

"It would be nice to be a lot safer."

Mr Cox is an electrical inspector and on the road a lot.

He said he was well aware of the region's "good" roads and "bad" roads and Papamoa Beach Rd down the end was, in his view, a bad road.

"It's not finished. It's unsafe now. You are riding along and you have a white line and a drop off right there on either side of Papamoa Beach Rd," he said.

"There's going to be more traffic getting pushed out."

Mr Cox said he raised his concerns with Tauranga City Council at a recent residents' meeting, which discussed future planning in relation to the area's sub-division developments.

"I brought it up there but they sort of just smiled and nodded."

Mr Cox said it was as if Papamoa east had become forgotten about.

Tauranga City Council spokesman Marcel Currin said the council was well aware of the eastern stretch of Papamoa Beach Rd and its high usage from recreational cyclists.

The council would undertake to widen the road and create better cycling lanes the next time resurfacing of the road was done, he said.

Mr Currin said work had already been made on other parts of Papamoa Beach Rd and he hoped to get to the eastern end soon.

"Cyclist safety is a high priority for the council," he said.

"It's a matter of when, not if."

Exact dates for the road's upgrading was not available at the time of publishing.