Transit lanes for one of Tauranga's worst traffic hot spots on Hewletts Rd

Transit lanes are set to be introduced for one of Tauranga's worst congestion spots.

The Tauranga City Council has revealed plans to introduce special vehicle lanes (T3) to Hewletts Rd this year. The move will allow vehicles with three or more people to use allocated lanes, currently only used by buses, to cruise ahead of snarled-up traffic.

Transport Operations Centre manager James Wickham said Hewletts Rd was an area of focus. As many as 297,000 vehicles used it each week. However, during peak hours only an average of 16 cars with three or more people an hour used it.

"Our target is to try to increase those 16 vehicles per hour to about 200 per hour, which would encourage those people who will be able to jump the queues while, at that rate, not interfering with the bus services," Wickham said.

In December, the New Zealand Transport Agency extended existing bus lanes further along Hewletts Rd and down Te Awanui Drive to Tauranga Bridge Marina.

Wickham said the lanes were monitored daily either in person with a camera or remotely via CCTV. This was expected to continue with the lanes came into effect, which was expected to happen before the end of the year.

Wickham said the council aimed to have appropriate bylaws in place by the end of March before going out to consult with affected parties.

"There's a bit of a risk with the Baypark to Bayfair project that if they complete that project ... there will be a bottleneck. If we don't do something with Hewletts Rd before they open that project up, it will almost be for nothing."

Last year, Tauranga was found to be the most car-dependent city in New Zealand, with 97 per cent of all work and recreational trips in private cars.

New Zealand Transport Agency's Mark Haseley said in a previous article it was important to tackle the congestion problem on Hewletts Rd, especially as it was the gateway to one of the country's most important ports.

"We have to target the right type of transport improvements across the city which isn't always wider and longer roads."

Transport advocacy group Greater Tauranga's Heidi Hughes applauded the lanes, saying it was great to encourage ride-sharing on a road where there was room to accommodate that.

However, she was concerned bicycle users would be overlooked.

"If they are making that a T3 as well as a bus lane, they need to look at what they are doing with bicycles. It's incredibly dangerous otherwise."

Hughes said the plans should also be incorporated into the B2B project.

Separate cycleways are among options the council was exploring as part of upgrades to the highway.

Since 2013 the number of vehicles going through the intersection of Hewletts Rd and Totara St increased 13.2 per cent to 297,000 a week. At Hewletts Rd and Jean Batten Dr it increased 12.3 per cent to 276,350.

Traffic a sign of progress

A Mount Maunganui man who drives Hewletts Rd every day says introducing transit lanes is a good thing, but he is unlikely to use them.

Dave Gerrand, from Christies Flooring, travels along the bustling stretch of road every day and has noticed the increase in traffic.

"But carpooling for us is definitely unfeasible. Most people aren't out of bed by the time we get to work. We run contractors and sometimes start work at 5am or 6am. There are times where I'll leave at 3pm to measure a house and then head straight home, so those lanes won't help me."

Gerrand has lived in Mount Maunganui for 39 years and owned Gerrand Flooring on Hewletts Rd for 24 years.

He said he did not mind the increased traffic because it was a sign of progress, "and progress means industry and industry means jobs for people, especially kids".

"You just have to suck it up. Choose a different time to get to work," he said.

"Tauranga has grown and the crunch is that a lot of people can't handle the fact. They [the council] are attempting to do something, whether that be the right thing or not, I don't know at this stage."

Street Poll: The Tauranga City Council is considering opening bus lanes to cars with three or more people inside. Would you consider carpooling to get to work, or elsewhere, faster?

Justine Sunnex, 18 Mount Maunganui

"I would at the moment. My dad is taking me to work and he's just started back up at work, and he starts quite early."
Justine Sunnex, 18, Mount Maunganui

Georgia Phillips, 17 Pyes Pa

"It's awesome. It's a really good idea, especially with people working in the same business. It's a really good idea. I'd do that."
Georgia Phillips, 17, Pyes Pa

Hunter Boyu, 23 Judea

"I probably would. It just makes it easier and I tend to be driving people around so it'd be good to get to places faster."
Hunter Boyu, 23, Judea

Jonathan Harness, 28 Ohauiti

"I would do it if people were using it for the right thing. You will get people deciding to go in there by themselves - there should be big fines for that. But I like the idea."
Jonathan Harness, 28, Ohauiti/