SH2 traffic between Tauranga and Katikati frustrates locals – but relief is in sight

Some Western Bay of Plenty residents are pragmatic about the traffic on State Highway 2 despite renewed frustration at congestion on the highway.

A section of SH2 between Te Puna and Aongatete started being laid with chip seal this week, as part of a wider six-week project, and SunLive has been contacted by highway users about the impact of the works on traffic this week.

Josh Hein videoed the traffic congestion on Tuesday, estimating the queue was about 15km long between just south of Pahoia School and Bethlehem.

“This is our route home from work which is going away from Katikati. If we were to travel back at that time in the morning [7am], it would add at least three hours to our trip,” Hein said on Tuesday.

NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) said contractors were working to minimise the impact to traffic by completing most of the works during the night and using temporary speed limits and other traffic management during the day to slow traffic.

NZTA Bay of Plenty system manager Sandra King said SH2 was an “incredibly sensitive piece of road” and any reduced speed limits from work or incidents near or on this road saw changes in traffic flow.

An agency statement on Thursday said the chip seal works between Tauranga and Katikati were due to be done by January 24, and Katikati to Athenree Gorge by January 31 – weather allowing. Keeping traffic moving slowly over the new seal was crucial to helping the waterproofing set properly.

Workers and residents spoken to by SunLive about the traffic were annoyed at the delays from the roadworks but pragmatic about the future results.

Whakamarama Automotive staff member and Greerton resident Craig, who did not want his last name published, said the traffic had been good on Wednesday and there had not been any peak-time traffic, unlike Monday and Tuesday.

Whakamarama Automotive staff have mixed feelings about the State Highway 2 traffic. Photo / Ayla Yeoman

Craig said he believed people were choosing to stay home to avoid the roads.

“Monday was terrible,” he said.

Craig said it usually took him 25 minutes to get to work in the morning from Greerton but, on Monday, it took him an hour.

Ōmokoroa local Eve Grimley said she came in half an hour early to get to her appointment at Whakamarama Automotive.

“They are making progress,” she said. “Eventually we’ll have a roundabout, so you’ll see the improvement in the traffic.”

Grimley said she was optimistic and hopeful about the roadworks and believed the Ōmokoroa roundabout would have a positive impact on the traffic flow.

Living in Ōmokoroa for 10 years meant she knew the back roads and shortcuts to use when traffic was really bad, she said.

Whakamarama Automotive owner Mathew Donachie, who lives on the far side of Katikati, said he was less optimistic about the roadworks and traffic it was creating.

Donachie said he had to drive with the worst of the traffic.

Asked for his opinion, he said he was “pissed off, but it has to be done, doesn’t it?”

“There’s no other road to get into Tauranga. Unfortunately, it’s something that’s got to be fixed. I don’t know how they could get around it without causing the trouble that they do.”

It usually took Donachie between 25 and 30 minutes to get to work in the morning.

“Tuesday morning it took me an hour to get from Pahoia School to here, and that was leaving half an hour earlier.”

“Wednesday was better ... but the traffic’s actually flowing today [Thursday].

“We’ve got six weeks of it yet.”

Donachie agreed with Craig’s theory that people were staying at home to avoid traffic.

“I’m just annoyed at the fact that they should have done something to these roads 10 to 15 years ago when they were going to build the highway along there.”

Donachie said he believed the roading network had not kept up with the rate of development in Ōmokoroa.

“What did they really expect was going to happen? You put in another 5000 homes in Ōmokoroa, every home’s got an average two cars, and you’ve still got the same old single highway road.”

In a statement to SunLive, NZTA said 15,000 vehicles travelled on SH2 per day from Waihī to Te Puna, and 20,000 per day travelled from Te Puna to Tauranga.

“These numbers are growing by around 2% to 3% each year.”

Western Bay of Plenty Mayor James Denyer said he believed the roads should have been updated in step with the Ōmokoroa developments.

Western Bay of Plenty Mayor James Denyer.

He said the issue was differing priorities between governments.

“It was planned for the upgrade of the State Highway from Ōmokoroa to Tauranga to have been done some years ago, and then the project was cancelled and then reinstated.

“That has been a frustration for [the] council and for residents.

“We are obliged by [the] government to accommodate growth and provide housing.

“We’re struggling to do that, to be honest. We want people to live here, and we need to keep up with the infrastructure.”

Denyer said the Tauranga and Western Bay of Plenty councils were keen to sign up for a “regional deal” – a new initiative between central and local government to drive economic growth – and a long-term partnership agreement would make things more aligned.