Traffic banked up on Te Ngae Rd. Photo / Andrew Warner
Traffic banked up on Te Ngae Rd. Photo / Andrew Warner
Gridlocked traffic, frustrated drivers, delayed buses, people late for work, students late for school. Is this the new normal for Rotorua's eastside residents?
Eastside residents have described the traffic congestion as "crawling" and "bloody disgusting", with one commuter saying it was the worst she has seen in her 15 yearsof living in the area.
The culprit was a change to traffic flow at the Sala St intersection, which saw the free left-hand slip lane from Te Ngae Rd on to Sala St closed. Light traffic was still allowed to turn left, but had to do so at the lights.
That created a backlog that saw traffic banked up east on Te Ngae Rd to at times, at least past the Rotorua Airport from early morning until after 10am.
NZ Transport Authority acting portfolio delivery manager Jo Wilton said the slip lane was closed on Monday afternoon as part of the ongoing works on Te Ngae Rd.
Traffic banked up on Te Ngae Rd near Isles Rd. Photo / Andrew Warner
Wilton said the delays had been more significant than expected and the authority was working to make sure it wasn't as bad tomorrow.
"With significant changes like this, it can take some time for changes to bed in and for road users to adjust to the new layout. However, our team is currently assessing the intersection and will be making adjustments to traffic management to try to reduce the delays."
The closure of the slip lane would remain until December 4 and was needed to allow contractors to upgrade it and finish work for the overall intersection upgrade.
Wilton said Long Mile Rd was a recreational environment that was not designed to safely transport state highway traffic for an extended period of time.
She asked motorists to take extra care when travelling through the intersection and thanked everyone for their patience.
Bay of Plenty Regional Council, which runs the City Ride buses, confirmed there had been delays to the service.
A Rotorua public transport worker, who wanted to remain anonymous, said he was running at least 40 minutes late this morning.
"Traffic is just piled up and gridlocked ... Something needs to be done as we can't have this every day," he said.
Lynmore resident of 15 years Sarah Benfell said today was the longest she had ever seen the traffic lines.
"I left just after 8am and it took me 30 minutes to get from Lynmore School to Sala St. It was just crawling. Hardly moving at all."
She said three of the staff where she works were late and it was particularly difficult for those with children to drop at school or bus stops as it wasn't possible or safe to drop them off too early to beat the traffic.
Eastside resident Ken Morely said if it continued to be an issue, he wondered if access to Sala St, via Long Mile Rd and through the Scion grounds, could be opened up to help ease the congestion.
"It (the traffic) was bloody disgusting this morning. It might be an option to let them down Long Mile Rd just between 8am and 10am to let some of the traffic through."
He also questioned why more work wasn't carried out at night and at weekends when there was less traffic.
In response, Wilton said the transport agency was completing the most disruptive work at night to reduce the impact on traffic.
"This is the case with the removal of the Tarawera roundabout last month which was completed overnight, and with recent work completed outside the Ngapuna shops."
She said night work was not always an option due to the availability of resources such as materials, plant and labour and factors such as noise restrictions, which were intended to ensure residents adjacent to the work were treated considerately too.
"It is also worth noting with regard to the slip lane closure, the slip lane needs to be closed 24/7 and there is no option to re-open during the day."
Traffic banked up on Te Ngae Rd approaching the roundabout at Tarawera Rd. Photo / Andrew Warner
Rotorua Girls' High School principal Sarah Davis said she had at least three staff members and up to 20 students late today.
"Some staff were able to get here on time but had left early to compensate, others were very late. There are some concerns about the safety of cyclists as there isn't much space for them and vehicles."
But cyclist Rob Smail, who co-owns Bike Culture on Tarawera Rd opposite the Redwood Shopping Centre, said he rode his bike from Glenholme to his workplace every day and it took just 10 minutes.
"The new cycle lanes are just awesome. The traffic today was just terrible and cars were literally not moving.
"I understand that some people absolutely need to still take their cars but they reckon this will go on for the next eight months so some people might want to get going on their bikes a bit more. It's just so easy," Smail said.
