A trial reopening of a Tauranga street closed for seven years has been labelled a “good outcome” for nearby residents feeling stuck “in a rat trap”.
Transport planners, however, are concerned it will create safety issues.
The citybound Hairini St slip lane to Turret Rd and the Hairini Bridge will reopen, except from 6.30am to 9.30am weekdays, for a three-month trial from October.
The road was closed in July 2018 when the Maungatapu Underpass opened, to avoid having three lanes merging into one at the notorious traffic bottleneck. It became a bus-only lane.
This meant to leave Hairini, motorists had to backtrack to the State Highway 29 Hairini St intersection.
The slip lane’s closure was met with opposition from residents upset about a lack of consultation and communication about the changes.
The decision to reopen the street was made at Tauranga City Council City Delivery Committee meeting on Tuesday.
The council worked with local hapū Ngāi Te Ahi to develop options for the trial.
Ngāi Te Ahi representative Irene Walker told Local Democracy Reporting Hairini Marae asked the council for the street to be reopened five years ago.
The opening was a “good outcome” because it allowed people the freedom to move, she said.
“Residents like the idea that they don’t feel as though they’re in a rat trap. There is another way out.”
Council staff recommended traffic calming measures for Hairini St, such as speed bumps, but the committee opted to do this only if required after the trial began because of the cost.
Walker said she was not worried about there being no new safety measures because she didn’t think they were needed.
Hairini resident Graham Hopkins first asked the council to reopen the street in 2020.
The trial was a chance to see if it would work, he said.
“I’m not overly excited, but I am happy that they’re at least going to give it a trial.”
Having to backtrack to get to Turret Rd added about 1km to a trip and getting on to the roundabout could be difficult, he said.
Hopkins said he did not have concerns about safety because the slip lane was residents’ main accessway prior to the street’s closure.
A pedestrian crossing on Hairini St would be a “good idea” for children walking to school, he said.
At the meeting, Mayor Mahé Drysdale asked what the cost of the traffic calming measures would be.
Council transport programme manager Brent Goodhue said the cost was $20,000 for the safety measures and $10,000 in traffic management while they were installed.
More traffic, potentially driving faster down Hairini St, was expected when the road opened, he said.
“We would end up with negative impacts to the local community if we didn’t put those [safety measures] in at the same time.”
The trial would allow the council to assess safety, accessibility and monitor the impact it had on the wider road network, said Goodhue.
It would also determine the viability of a long-term solution after construction of the proposed Turret Rd / 15th Ave upgrades.
June council data showed an average of 27,671 vehicles used the Hairini Bridge/Turret Rd corridor each day.
Director of transport Mike Seabourne said the estimated cost of the trial without traffic calming, staff costs and a contingency would be about $40,000, down from about $110,000.
Drysdale did not want the council to spend more than it had to when there may not be a problem.
If the trial created safety issues, then the council could act, he said.
Councillor Rod Taylor said: “How many chances of safety do you get? The first thing that might happen is someone gets run over.”
The staff had considered potential safety issues and the “risk is too high”, he said.
Welcome Bay ward councillor Hautapu Baker said he grew up in the neighbourhood and children from four schools used the area.
“I would hate for us to respond to an accident rather than be proactive to prevent something.”
Councillor Glen Crowther said the road would be closed when children were going to school. Afternoon traffic would be heading out of the city and not using the citybound slip lane much.
There were other areas in the city where children were more at risk, he said.
The council consulted residents in the directly affected area and found 80% of 92 responses supported a trial reopening, with the rest opposed.
Some 78% supported traffic calming on Hairini St, with most in favour of speedhumps.
Councillors approved the trial reopening with a $40,000 budget. Traffic calming measures would be installed if required once the trial began.
Once the trial was complete residents would be surveyed again, and staff would report the trial’s results back to the council for a decision on the slip lane’s future.
- LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.