Trucks travelling through the city could be banned from certain streets as Tauranga City Council reviews a proposal to ease congestion and remove heavy vehicles from busy Tauranga roads.

The last minute decision was made as councillors voted on its review of the Traffic and Parking Bylaw at Tuesday's Policy and Strategy Committee meeting.

The council is reviewing a proposal to ban trucks along certain Tauranga roads, including Cameron Road.

Council staff are advising a blanket ban may be unreasonable, and forcing heavy traffic to use Route K may break the law that states toll roads should have a feasible un-tolled alternative.

The report says enforcing a ban only against trucks crossing the city without stopping, may be difficult to enforce and can be easily circumvented – and could be unlawful.

Councillor Bill Faulkner says councillors who acted unilaterally against similar warnings were later supported by events, as shown when councillors themselves initiating peak hour changes along Chapel Street a few years ago.

'Then within nine months Transit was doing the same thing in Waihi Road,” says Bill.

'I'm just saying put the signs up and see what happens.”

At present the only state highway link across the city is State Highway 2A across 15th Avenue, linking State Highway 2 from Bethlehem with State Highway 29.

Trucks entering the city from the Kaimai Ranges have three choices to go through Cambridge Road/Moffat Road, Route K, or Cameron Road, which are city council controlled streets.

Councillor Larry Baldock says council wants to ban trucks from Cameron Road, which will force them onto Cambridge Road/Moffat road.

Murray Guy says the answer is staring the council in the face – take the tolls off Route K.

He wants to know if any work has been done to quantify the result of taking off the tolls, and any savings made by the reduction in wear and tear on city roads as a result.

Council staff said that work has been done and there aren't the savings to justify it.

Mayor Stuart Crosby called for feedback from the heavy traffic operators before the issue is brought back to councillors.

Heavy motor vehicles make up about 4.1 per cent of road vehicles in the Bay of Plenty slightly above the national average of 3.4 per cent.

In Cameron Road the percentage is 4.4, in rural Cambridge Road the percentage is 6.2.

The non-state highway 2 section of Maunganui Road has a 5.1 per cent of trucks, Hull Road 13.7 per cent and Route K 22.5 per cent.