Bus Lanes B2B SH2 Baypark to Bayfair to Golf Rd

Reply to NZTA email Nov 2022

Thanks for the reply.

There are a couple of points in your email which need clarification.

"On the bus lanes on SH2 between the Girven Road and Hewletts Road intersection we’ve had a closer look and unfortunately this isn’t feasible and affordable currently. With the KiwiRail line as close as it is to the road, and also with the entrances to the pedestrian / cyclist underpass, this would be a very challenging and expensive project. I’m not ruling out that there may be a point in the future where further improvements along here are required, but it’s not a current priority given we have extremely limited funding and the agreed transport pattern is for buses to primarily use Grenada Street and Links Ave."

There are bus stops on both sides of the underpass on the slip roads on the plans and I know the one adjacent to Bayfair Shopping Centre has been built in reinforced concrete. I see it every day I drive home.

With the major effort starting to improve traffic movement along Hewletts Rd, and the desire to make public transport attractive to users, bus lanes on the B2B will be an important component in encouraging a modal shift to buses as the travel times will improve. BECA did a lot of work on this in the past and had a BUS/HOV lane in the plans of the B2B. We can all see that the roadway is too narrow near the Golf Rd roundabout but the bus lane could extend almost to there and then the buses merge with the traffic before using the Hewletts Rd bus lane. It is also about perception; if the commuters see something is being done for bus travel times, then this will be a positive incentive to use the bus. Express buses stopped in traffic send the wrong message.

It is very easy to say "not possible" but we must work with what we have, we will never get more roads. You, NZTA, BOPRC and TCC are planning bus lanes for the Tauriko development, why a different approach here?

Regards,

from letter to NZTA 2022 which is a reply to their response.

“Thank you for your prompt reply re Location of Bus Lanes on the B2B in Tauranga.  Your reply is not constructive and very dismissive.

I am not sure if you fully understand the opportunity for bus lanes on the B2B (Baypark to Bayfair Link) and the current problem with safety for schoolchildren with the bus lanes being on Links Ave.  

The opportunity here and the chance to do something to futureproof public transport in this area cannot wait for numerous committees playing “pass the parcel” between the different agencies. (TCC, Waka Kotahi, BOPRC).

The decision of including bus lanes can’t wait for “future engagement activities where the community will have an opportunity to provide feedback”. The community wants to be included in the decisions NOW before it is too late to include the bus lanes on the Baypark to Bayfair Link.

Now is the time.  A “can do” attitude and an approach of YES will get the bus lanes in place.

Ignoring the community input was a contributing factor behind the debacle of initially removing the Bayfair Underpass in the B2B project.  Subsequently, after public remonstrations,  the underpass was reinstated.  Luckily in the end, common sense prevailed.

If Waka Kotahi really supported safety on Links Ave and understood the problem, then you would know the only way to achieve the best solution is to remove the bus lane in Links Ave. (See the TCC commissioned Safety Report recommendation).  Any bus lane in Links Ave against the kerbside and alongside the footpath used by schoolchildren is an incident waiting to happen.

Also, bus lanes on the B2B link will facilitate the future express bus service from the new areas east of Papamoa to downtown Tauranga.  This aligns with Government policy is to move commuters to public transport. “

Bus Lanes are not a new idea. From documents released by NZTA after an OIA request.

Express buses are planned for the future from Papamoa, Sands, Te Tumu to downtown and the Hewletts Rd area. We can forsee these buses being held up in the traffic gridlock from Baypark to Girven Rd to Golf Rd during morning and afternoon peak flows. Why take a bus if it travels at the same speed as the cars!! Bus lanes on the side of the B2B (SH2) in both directions are possible for most of the length. These are designed into the B2B project with bus stops either end of the Bayfair Underpass and using the underpass as the pedestrian link to Bayfair Shopping Centre.

There is a space constraint closer to the Golf Rd roundabout and buses will need to merge into the traffic there. We understand this and you always need to work with what you have in the way of roads.

However NZTA Waka Kotahi, TCC, BOPRC are adamant that bus lanes can not be installed. See correspondence to the right.

What is the reason for this, not our idea, not invented on my desk. ?

Our message is

“Look after your Papamoa commuters and provide them with the fastest bus travel to Tauranga, not a slow loop through Links Ave.”