The speed limit on the Tauranga Eastern Link will increase to 110km/h by the end of the year. Photo/John Borren
The Tauranga Eastern Link will be one of the first roads in New Zealand to get a 110km/h speed limit - but there is no change for Papamoa to Tauranga commuters.
The new speed limit will only apply to the tolled section of State Highway 2 between the Domain Rd intersection and Paengaroa roundabout, the New Zealand Transport Agency confirmed yesterday.
The change will shave almost a minute off the journey for a motorist cruising at the speed limit, taking eight minutes and 10 seconds to travel 15km instead of nine minutes.
NZ Transport Agency director of safety and environment Harry Wilson said the section from Domain Rd to Te Maunga was an urban expressway and had higher traffic volumes of up to 30,000 vehicles a day compared with the toll road section.
"It is also used by vehicles such as agricultural machinery."
Mr Wilson said roads supporting 110km/h travel speeds had been engineered, designed and maintained to a level that supported an increase in the speed limit.
"That is at least two lanes in each direction and a median barrier, with no direct access to properties."
The TEL between Domain Rd and Paengaroa roundabout met these criteria but would not be changed without community consultation, Mr Wilson said. A bylaw would also have to be changed.
Subject to consultation, which could begin once the new rule comes into effect on September 21, the earliest a 110km/h speed limit could be in place on the TEL was the end of 2017.
Mr Wilson said the current 90km/h speed limit for heavy vehicles and towing vehicles would apply to 110km/h roads.
"All 110km/h roads will have at least two lanes in each direction, so other road users should be able to safely and easily pass slower-moving vehicles."
Tauranga Mayor Greg Brownless thought the road could handle a 110km/h speed limit, provided motorists were "reasonably sensible" in sticking to it.
"Most of us are capable of cruising at 110km/h on a road like that."
While the increased limit might have a "psychological benefit" for motorists, he said any efficiency gains by even frequent users would be fractional.
"It might make us feel better but I'm not sure it will have any real appreciable difference."
He did not think any other roads in the district should have 110km/h limits.
Western Bay Mayor Garry Webber said lifting the speed limit was appropriate given the quality of the road but people would still need to drive to the conditions.
"I would hope common sense and good road sense would apply."
He said he had seen a road speed study that recommended the TEL increase - but also favoured reducing the limit on the Omokoroa to Katikati stretch of SH2 to 80km/h.
He wondered when the Government would assess that.
Transport Minister and Tauranga MP Simon Bridges said that decision was with the New Zealand Transport Agency.
"In some circumstances, speeds on certain roads will need to come down."
The change would need to be evidence based, he said.
There were no other Tauranga roads being considered for a 110km/h speed limit.
The two roads National last week promised to upgrade if re-elected - Tauranga to Katikati and SH29 over the Kaimai Range - might be candidates for the new maximum limit in the future.
Mr Bridges said increasing the speed limit on the TEL was "the right thing to do" and he expected most people would strongly welcome it.
"This is a significant change, no one in New Zealand has ever been able to go 110 legally."
Bay of Plenty Police road policing manager Inspector Brent Crowe said police remained focused on reducing the harm caused on the region's roads and would continue to enforce any given speed limit.
"As always staff will use their discretion, however our priority is to ensure all road users drive to the conditions."
Associate Transport Minister Tim Macindoe announced yesterday that the TEL and parts of the Waikato Expressway were first in line for the rollout of the new maximum speed limit.
Roads now under construction, including the Kapiti Expressway and the southern section of the Christchurch Motorway, would be considered in future.
The new speed limit would be in effect by the end of the year on roads that met the criteria.
"It is brilliant. The road is so well surfaced and protected."
- Stella Cressey, Papamoa
"It is all right. It is such a big, straight road."
- Nick Tahau, Katikati
"Everyone is doing it anyway, so what is the difference?"
- Gary Oliver, Waihi Beach
"People are doing it anyway. The road and the speed limit is safe."
- Adam Mangann, Tauranga
Tauranga Eastern Link
- Goes from Te Maunga near Baypark to the intersection of SH2 and SH33 near Paengaroa
- 21km long
- Four-lane wire rope median divided highway
- Seven bridges
- Toll applies from Domain Rd intersection to Paengaroa
- Toll is $2 per car and $5 for heavy vehicles
- Work started late 2010
- Opened mid-2015
- Cost $455m
- Designated a Road of National Significance