Zizi Sparks: Bayfair, Te Ngae Rd traffic congestion short-term pain for long-term gain

Traffic queues on Te Ngae Rd this week. Photo / Andrew Warner

OPINION

Roadworks seem never-ending.

Particularly when driving between cities it seems you just reach 100km/h when you're forced to drop to half that for road resealing or other works.

You find yourself complaining about all the work when it happens but the reality is most roadworks are likely to add just minutes to a long commute and make it faster in the long run.

This week traffic has been held up more than 40 minutes on and around Rotorua's Te Ngae Rd as work began at the intersection of Te Ngae Rd and Sala St.

In Tauranga, the Bayfair to Baypark work has been causing similar delays.

Just last month a resident described traffic there as an "absolute dog's dinner" after a new set of traffic lights went live at the previous Te Maunga roundabout causing congestion.

When roadworks happen, it is usually well notified and the New Zealand Transport Agency asks people to plan ahead, take alternative routes or travel at off-peak times.

But complaints have still flowed faster than the traffic.

I'll be honest, I don't live Eastside in Rotorua and if I did I'm sure I would join residents in complaining about the lengthy delays.

The

plan ahead, take alternative routes or travel at off-peak times solutions are hard to swallow.

The simple fact is people have jobs to get to and they have jobs to get to by a certain time. In Rotorua, there aren't a lot of alternative routes when your city is centred around a lake.

But we all need to realise, the transport agency is doing these works with a long-term view.

The roughly $146 million Baypark to Bayfair upgrade will improve the SH2/SH29A Te Maunga and SH2 Maunganui Rd/Girven Rd intersections.

Traffic builds up on SH29A at the Truman Lane intersection, near where traffic lights were installed as part of B2B works. Photo / File

The Te Ngae Rd upgrades are part of a wider Eastern Corridor project and are also expected to last years. The current intersection upgrade is expected to be finished by Christmas. It is work that's needed.

We should be thankful the traffic is not like Auckland's. So it's time to suck it up and go through short-term pain for long-term gain.

As Rotorua's deputy mayor Dave Donaldson says, "to make a good omelette you have to crack a few eggs".

I look forward to seeing that omelette.