New charges on the Tauranga Eastern Link Toll Road have been labelled “unfair” and potentially damaging to Pāpāmoa East businesses.
Motorists who stop at Pāpāmoa East, before continuing on the Tauranga Eastern Link/State Highway 2 (TEL) will be charged twice, more than they would pay to drive the same distance without stopping.
The new Pāpāmoa East Interchange was blessed in an official ceremony on Monday, and is expected to open before Good Friday.
The project, which has been under construction for four years, was jointly funded by Tauranga City Council and NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) and was finished early and under budget at $90 million.
Bay of Plenty MP Tom Rutherford posted on Facebook, saying he had heard from hundreds of residents concerned about the new toll taking effect in late 2026.
Rutherford and NZTA confirmed late last week there would be a second tolling point added between the Domain Rd and Pāpāmoa East interchanges.
Travelling this section will cost $1.10 for light vehicles and $2.80 for heavy vehicles.
Travelling the full length of the TEL (Domain Rd to Paengaroa), or between Pāpāmoa East and Paengaroa, would cost $2.30 for light vehicles and $5.60 for heavy vehicles.
Rutherford said if drivers exit at the Pāpāmoa East Interchange to shop at The Sands or visit friends and family, then re-join the TEL at the same spot, they would be charged two separate tolls once the new point was active.
“For example, $1.10 for the short northern section plus $2.30 for the southern section, totalling $3.40.
“That extra $1.10 simply for stopping to shop locally, visit family and friends, or whatever it may be, does feel unfair and goes against supporting new development and businesses in Pāpāmoa East,” he said.
Rutherford wrote to NZTA seeking its justification for treating an exit and re-join as two separate trips, and asking it to reconsider.
“I have already heard from several affected businesses and residents who believe this is unfair,” he wrote.
Matua-Ōtūmoetai ward councillor Glen Crowther also raised the “unfairness” of the extra charge for people stopping off at Pāpāmoa East.
“Why should they pay the full toll, $2.30 for cars, for that leg of the motorway, when they already pay a half toll, $1.10, for the other leg?
“I can now only hope that NZTA will change the unfairness of their extra toll on people who stop off at Pāpāmoa East.”
An NZTA spokesperson confirmed motorists who hop off and on the highway at Pāpāmoa will be charged two separate tolls.
“This is the same for someone who exits at Paengaroa and re-enters a short time later.”
The second toll point ensured all TEL users contributed fairly, wherever they entered the toll road.
“Without the additional toll point, only users travelling from the Paengaroa side would continue to pay, while others could benefit from the same improved access and reduced travel times without contributing,” the spokesperson said.
A free alternative route was available for those making short trips and wanting to avoid paying two fees.
The site was blessed after a ribbon-cutting ceremony early on Monday morning.
Rutherford told Local Democracy Reporting at the event that he lived on Te Okuroa Dr, and had been using the new interchange’s eastbound off-ramp since it opened early in August.
He said it had taken two to three minutes off his trip home and eased congestion at the Domain Rd TEL exit, which was often at a “standstill” from 4pm onwards.
Pāpāmoa ward councillor Steve Morris said the interchange meant more time with his family before his daughter heads off to the United States for university.
Morris said he had lived in Pāpāmoa since he was nine months old, when there were 1900 residents. Now there were 38,000.
“The community has changed a lot.”
Te Papa ward councillor Rod Taylor, who owns Luxe Cinemas Pāpāmoa in Golden Sands, said the interchange would make a big difference to travel times and benefit the local economy.
“Time is money, as they say.”
He said he looked forward to the opening of the Mitre 10 Mega and the rest of the commercial area at The Sands in Pāpāmoa East.
“Watch this space, in another five years, you won’t know the place.”
Artists Jo’el Komene, Dean Flavell and Noel McAllister worked together as a team called Te Toi Takapū to create three design components for the interchange.
Komene said the project had been a good opportunity for iwi and Tauranga City Council to work together.
“It is quite significant for us as iwi to see ourselves in our place.”
Pou, in the shape of two rau (feathers), stand 5m tall either side of the interchange entrance/exit.
Named Rau Huia, Komene described the work as a “contemporary manifestation of the huia feather which was worn in the pūtiki or top knot … which was a symbol of chieftainship”.
The tips can be lit with different colours at night.
The wooden carvings flanking each rau represent important ancestors from the four local iwi: Tūtānekai of Ngāti Whakaue, Takakopiri of Waitaha, Tatahau of Tapuika and Tamapahore of Ngā Pōtiki.
The bridge abutments have a pūhoro design representing speed, agility and movement. The design was used on traditional waka that travelled the Kaituna River and tattooed on the thighs of warrior chiefs.
The bridge barriers have a tāniko design, a pattern used in weaving and cloaks to express stories, ideas and values important to the four iwi.
The triangular design symbolises the mahinga kai (gardens), marae, pā sites, wāhi tapu (sacred sites) and urupā (cemetery) in the area.
– LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
Ayla Yeoman is a Local Democracy Reporting journalist based in Tauranga. She holds a Bachelor of Arts majoring in communications, politics and international relations from the University of Auckland, and has been a journalist since 2022.