Anyone climbing Mauao has only to glance down from the summit towards the Mount Hot Pools below, to find there is now a giant happy smiling face looking right up back at them.
The 'Mount Smiley Face', a recent painted addition to the roundabout at the intersection of Adams Ave and Maunganui Road, has been spun around so it is no longer facing south but is now 180 degrees smiling in the opposite direction.
Following some vandalism to the face on Wednesday night, the council decided to repaint it promptly with the smile spun around and the tongue gone.
The smiley face first appeared in 2023, when a local roadmarker who was repainting the roundabout and road markings decided to add a smiley face one night. It was met with much enthusiasm from the local Mount community.
Initially,Tauranga City Council said they would be removing it later in summer, but decided to ask people what they thought.
“When the smiley face originally appeared we knew there was a lot of community interest in the roundabout, so we ran a poll on our website to see if people ‘love it or loathe it’,” says Tauranga City Council Head of Transport Nic Johansson.
“983 people voted, with 939 saying they love the cheeky addition, which made the decision to keep the smile a no-brainer.”
Nic says they heard the community loud and clear.
“We’re really pleased so many people gave us their feedback.
“The smiley face roundabout makes a lot of people happy, it works, and it doesn’t compromise safety or functionality so it’s here to stay.”
The 'Mount Smiley Face' roundabout, at the intersection of Adams Ave and Maunganui Road, Mount Maunganui. Photo: Rosalie Liddle Crawford.
He also says the council’s transport team hasn’t received any complaints about the smiley face on the roundabout.
Last week, however, someone took to the face with red paint …defacing it.
“We were disappointed for the community when we found out that someone vandalised the roundabout on Wednesday night,” says Nic.
Council contractors immediately remedied the situation.
“We were already due to freshen up the paint, so we repainted the roundabout, with the smile now facing Mauao and minus the tongue.”
4 comments
Photo opportunity.
Posted on 26-03-2024 13:23 | By Justin T.
Love to see the photograph of the Vandal as there is a street camera just above the Maunganui Road sign overlooking the intersection.
Hmmm
Posted on 26-03-2024 14:37 | By Let's get real
Perfect picture right there.
A public service bus making no effort to go around the roundabout.
I know full well that it's not possible to go around that particular roundabout because of the length of the bus, but I'm pretty certain that if the bus was to be involved in an accident, because they are fully on the WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD, they should be prosecuted.
Might be worthwhile teaching the new migrant workers about staying safe and keeping the community safe.
Hmmm
Posted on 26-03-2024 14:47 | By Let's get real
I wonder if the 939 that like to support nonsense, realise how often that roundabout will need to be repainted...?
Very few people drive around it, choosing to go over it, as properly driven buses and coaches should, and this creates tyre marking to the surface, particularly in hot weather.
I dred to think of the cost to paint this nonsense.
Not just material costs, but public notification, traffic management, observers for safety, supervisors and of course ONE person to apply the paint. Then they all stand around to watch paint dry.
AWESOMENESS
Posted on 26-03-2024 16:15 | By Yadick
Great job and thank you for turning it to be enjoyed by all that ascend the Mount.
Nice job.
Can't believe some moron defaced it already (no pun intended). The amount of graffiti and tagging around Tauranga is disgusting and rapidly increasing. Surely street cameras can pick these criminals up.
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