Tauranga City Council yet to make a decision on Arataki bus interchange location

Passengers wait at Mount Maunganui's Farm St bus stop in 2018. Photo / file

No decision has been made on the final location of a bus interchange in Arataki.

In a meeting yesterday, Tauranga City Council considered two options for the interchange: One on Bayfair-owned land and the other on council-owned land on Girven Rd, next to the St John building.

An assessment on the Girven Rd option was presented to the council in yesterday's meeting.

Further assessments of the possibility of having the bus facility at Bayfair will be carried out and the results of this will be presented to the new council after the elections.

The elected members agreed on the need to continue to engage with and update the Arataki community on works regarding the location.

The next steps were to progress work on technical assessments, identify pros and cons and continue community engagement for these options.

Interested parties could sign up to receive an e-newsletter via the council website.

A petition signed by 71 residents in the area opposing using Farm St was presented in a council meeting on July 23.

Speaking on behalf of the petitioners, resident David Henderson emphasised their concerns about traffic volumes, the street width, dangers to pedestrians and cyclists as well as issues with noise, pollution and vibrations from buses.

He said residents had no problem with buses in general.

"The problem is with the frequency ... and the size of buses coming down that narrow street."

Henderson said it was not residents' job to come up with a solution, but he wanted the council to consider the reserve land next to the St John Ambulance building on Girven Rd or integrating with the Baypark to Bayfair project.

At the July 23 meeting, councillors voted to have staff assess whether Girven Rd was a viable option.