State Highway 2 traffic: Ōmokoroa to Tauranga congestion warning as roadworks set to stay for months

The traffic queue heading to Tauranga about 9.20am. Photo / Supplied

Drivers are furious as hours are being added to their commutes from Ōmokoroa to Tauranga with one saying today is “the worst it’s been”.

Frustrated State Highway 2 motorists took to social media this morning with one saying the just under 20km trip to Tauranga Hospital took an hour and a half while a group of high school students were said to be stuck on a bus for two and a half hours.

People on social media described the traffic as “utterly ridiculous”, “not moving”, “nuts”, an “absolute disgrace” and the “the worst it’s been”, with traffic heading for Tauranga said to be backed up to the Wairoa Bridge around 6am. Some urged people in Ōmokoroa to stay home.

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency and Tauranga City Council both have roadworks on the stretch of SH2 between Ōmokoroa and Bethlehem, and have warned of delays with work set to continue for some time yet.

A Waka Kotahi spokeswoman told the Bay of Plenty Times today’s congestion appeared to be the “sheer volume” of traffic, with the main contributing factor being a shift in commuter habits.

She said its traffic data showed drivers were staggering the time they travel on SH2, with peak travel moving from 6am to 9am to now stretching between 6am to 10.30am.

She said some alternative routes were also closed with the kiwifruit season underway, which concentrated the congestion on the highway.

She said Waka Kotahi was aware that the significant delays were causing frustration.

Waka Kotahi said in a media release on Thursday there were two pieces of work happening on the stretch of highway, which was “incredibly sensitive” to any changes in traffic flow.

On Sunday the agency started a major rehabilitation of SH2, between the Wairoa Bridge and Bethlehem as part of its annual maintenance programme.

Work included completely rebuilding and asphalting the road surface and was expected to continue until June.

The work will be completed at night with three road closures due to the narrow width of the bridge approaches, the statement said.

The first closure was on Sunday, the next will be on Thursday and the third will be next Wednesday.

Light vehicles will be detoured via Wairoa Rd, Crawford Rd and Poripori Rd, through to SH29. Heavy vehicles will be stacked on either side of the bridge and piloted through at set intervals.

Between the nights of the closures, up to and including June 1, night works will continue under stop/go traffic management.

Tauranga City Council’s work on the Wairoa Cycleway project was being completed at night and was not expected to cause significant impacts to traffic, the agency’s release said.

The council said in a May 3 media release said work had started to build the 800m of the Ōmokoroa to Tauranga cycleway between Wairoa Bridge and Bethlehem.

It said “very strict traffic management is required” on and around the site as the work extends into the main part of the road.

The 30km/h speed restrictions were required even when workers are not on site.

Traffic management and restricted speed around the site would continue throughout the project, which was expected to be about three months.

A new speed limit of 50km per hour would be in place along the stretch once the cycleway was completed.