Cameron Rd would become four lanes from 17th Ave if the Cameron Rd Stage 2 project goes ahead. Photo / John Borren
A major Tauranga road project is set to go ahead without NZ Transport Agency funding, but there will be compromises.
Cameron Rd Stage 2 involved fully or partially four-laning the southern end of the central arterial route, between 17th Ave and Maleme St.
Water infrastructure under the road would also be upgraded, with ratepayers set to pay more than $100 million of the total costs.
The project follows the controversial $110m Cameron Rd Stage 1, which focused on the north end and finished in early 2024.
Tauranga City Council planned to co-fund Stage 2 with NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), but the project was not prioritised in the current National Land Transport programme.
Councillors were presented with a revised “value for money” option at meeting on Tuesday.
The original designs for the transport infrastructure were costed at $164 million, but the redesign was estimated to cost $98.8m.
This could be funded through a $56.4m grant from the Government’s Infrastructure Acceleration Fund (IAF), $22.4m in developer contributions and $20m from an Infrastructure Funding and Financing Levy that would be paid back by ratepayers through a targeted rate.
The $86.7m water infrastructure required is funded through the current long-term plan.
This means ratepayers would foot at least $106.7m of the total project bill – and the IAF grant was also not guaranteed.
The IAF was being reviewed, so there was a risk this funding source could be lost.
However, the fund administrator said if the council committed to delivering the project by June 30, 2030, it could increase the chance of keeping the funding.
Council senior project manager Richard O’Kane said the proposed designs came with compromises and trade-offs.
A key challenge was enabling right turns along the route, he said.
Another was beautification of the berms and urban revitalisation, O’Kane said.
The original design included new footpaths with pavers, signage and beautification similar to Cameron Rd Stage 1, but the new design focused on transport outcomes, he said.
Three concept design options have been created for Greerton Village.
Option 1 would be four lanes along the full route with dual signalised intersections in Greerton Village, with an estimated cost of $95.4m.
Option 2 was two lanes through the village with separated cycle lanes, costing an estimated $88m.
Option 3 would be four lanes along the whole route with dual roundabouts in Greerton Village at an estimated cost of $90.8m.
The four-lane options futureproofed the corridor with options for dedicated bus or transit lanes that could become parking outside peak traffic times, O’Kane’s report said.
The existing corridor had about 338 on-street car parks. Initial assessments showed 300 could be retained this way.
Modelling showed four lanes was the preferable outcome, he said.
The options would be presented to the community for feedback, which would be incorporated into further designs.
O’Kane said the project was important to enable housing intensification in the Te Papa peninsula, which was critical to the city’s growth outcomes.
The IAF funding agreement was based on building infrastructure faster to enable at least 1600 extra dwellings in the Te Papa area over 10 years, the report said.
Mayor Mahé Drysdale said it was a “suboptimal solution” but it would deliver something now.
Otherwise, the council would be talking about this in 10 years’ time and the project could cost $300m, he said.
“If we want to deliver a project, this is our best opportunity to deliver it.”
It would not include all the “nice-to-haves” from the original project but it would still have the same outcomes, Drysdale said.
“We can deliver a project that achieves 100% of the outcomes of the original project for approximately half the cost.”
Councillor Glen Crowther supported the project but said it was a “very tight timeframe” for completion.
He wanted to make sure the council did not create undue risks and costs that were not factored into the project.
There were “big learnings” from Stage 1, where the known risks were not taken into account early enough, Crowther said.
That project suffered delays and budget overruns, and caused significant disruption, particularly to Cameron Rd businesses.
Crowther said the council needed to make sure the public had a genuine say on key issues about the project.
The council unanimously decided to commit to delivering the project.
Concept designs would go out for public feedback once the council had confirmation the IAF funding was still available.
A report would come back to the City Future Committee in 2026 to confirm the design before detailed design planning took place.
- LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.