The Tay St and Marine Parade intersection. Photo / Leah Tebbutt
Tauranga City Council looks likely to drop its controversial proposal to trial a one-way traffic system in Pilot Bay due to a lack of public support - again.
Several changes to the popular streets of Mount Maunganui North are still afoot, however, in an effort to make the area safer and more appealing for people to walk, cycle or scooter instead of driving.
These could see car parks removed to make way for a shared pathway, a new roundabout installed and the Marine Parade boardwalk extended.
The council previously looked at trying a one-way traffic system on The Mall to make way for a two-way bike cruiseway but the plan was binned in 2018.
It was resurrected last year when the council included it in a successful application for new Government funding that would pay a majority of the cost of the trial.
After objections from some Mount North residents and businesses, the council started a project to get community feedback on the options for the area.
The project, dubbed Innovating Streets at the Mount, has been running over the past four months and collected 1073 public submissions.
The council's team worked with community representative groups to look at options and submissions, and develop designs for potential changes to roads.
Today, a project report will be presented to the council, which is governed by a commission.
The report recommended trialling changes in Marine Parade and Tay St, including a new shared pedestrian pathway for Marine Parade between Tay St and Mount Drury, a roundabout at the intersection of Tay St and Marine Parade, and changes to car parking in the area.
The commission will also be asked to sign off on staff investigating the feasibility and cost of extending the Marine Parade boardwalk from the Cenotaph to the Oceanbeach Rd roundabout.
Extending the boardwalk was not originally in the options the council considered for the project, but was added after support from the public.
The council's Innovating Streets project manager, Guy Protheroe, said the aim of the project was to make the area safer by getting people to reconsider their transport options when travelling through the Mount.
The proposed plans that went out for consultation included the one-way trial of Pilot Bay, the Tay St roundabout, and the possibility of shutting off Adams Ave and Mauao end of Marine Parade to traffic completely.
Protheroe said the latter option attracted either very strong support or very strong objection.
"People either loved the idea or felt it was a step too far."
There was also strong resistance to any changes to Pilot Bay, he said.
"So we are not doing much to Pilot Bay. We do not really have much support for a cycleway around there so if anything there will only be very modest changes."
There was more support for a cycleway down Marine Parade and down Banks Ave, which could effectively act as a link across the peninsula. However, Banks Ave would need a safety audit due to its intersection with Maunganui Rd before any change could happen, he said.
"The majority of the feedback is that people want a roundabout at Tay St."
Protheroe said the roundabout would help create a threshold for a slower speed environment for traffic travelling towards Mauao.
There would be more pedestrian crossings installed at the intersection and parallel parking removed on one side of Marine Parade. Parking angles would also be narrowed to 45 degrees. Ultimately there would be at least 23 fewer parks.
"Overall, people wanted to retain two-way traffic and installation of a shared pathway. So there would be a loss of parking as a consequence of that," Protheroe said.
Lowering the speed limit involves going through a different council process but Protheroe said these plans would help change the character of the area to encourage slower speeds and make the area safer.
He said feedback from local businesses and residents showed they were "very concerned" about the traffic.
"There have been accidents and we are responding to those safety issues. It's a collective response."
Tay St Cafe owner Hamish Robinson told the Bay of Plenty Times the traffic past his business was consistent, although the nearby crossing had made it better in some ways.
However, people looking at the surf and what he believed was a lack of signage had meant there were also some close calls, he said.
"Often you'll hear screeching brakes and you just wait."
Overall, Robinson said he was in favour of safety changes along Marine Parade that would encourage alternative forms of transport, slowing down cars and quality of life.
As a business owner, he was concerned about losing parking but said, in reality, every car park wasn't used 100 per cent of the time.
"We've got to be thinking in the interests of all public really. Numerous people biking have been hurt from people backing out of car parks so if it was sectioned off, and you drove into a parking area separate from the road, then I think it would be safer for everyone involved.
"Then you could have a dedicated cycleway, walking paths - it would be a drawcard and it would make it safer."
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency will fund 90 per cent of the $990,000 Innovating Streets project. Estimated costs so far are $580,000.
The agency announced the Innovating Streets for People Pilot Fund in April 2020 and invited councils to apply for it with projects of up to $1 million in cost.
The fund was about creating safe and attractive speeds for all users including pedestrians, cyclists, and other non-car modes of travel to demonstrate the value of potential future permanent changes to the community.
If approved, the council will finalise detail design and begin monitoring traffic and parking "pre-trial" before construction begins between now and May, when a third round of community engagement was expected.
- Additional reporting by Leah Tebbutt
Hint: They are more likely to degrade waterways than mutate into a crime-fighting team.