A long-discussed plan to add a new direction-changing lane to a major Tauranga congestion chokepoint is one step closer to reality.

But a Tauranga architect who suggested the system years ago is concerned it’s now too late to work.

Tauranga City Council has submitted plans to NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi for three-laning Turret Rd, the Hairini Bridge and causeway to add a tidal flow system that changes direction with peak traffic, as well as four-laning 15th Ave between Cameron Rd and Burrows St.

The council endorsed the 15th Ave to Welcome Bay business case at a meeting on Monday.

The council is seeking 51 per cent of the $82.6 million cost of the project from NZTA.

Architect Mark Wassung approached Tauranga City Council with the tidal lane idea in 2017.

In his view: “It should have been done in 2017 or ‘18 with vigour and enthusiasm - not in 2024 when it’s been broken for so long”.

The bridge was a “terrible bottleneck,” and it was like a sewage pipe that backed up, he said.

Tauranga architect Mark Wassung said the tidal lane project should've been done in 2017. Photo / Supplied.

Wassung lives in Maungatapu and uses the bridge to take his daughter to intermediate school.

The car trip takes 25 to 30 minutes. If his daughter bikes it’s a 10-minute ride, but he did not believe the cycle lane on the bridge was safe because it was too narrow to pass another cyclist, he said.

Wassung said a four-lane road and bridge would be better in the long-term. He welcomed the cycling and walking improvements that will be done as part of the project, including a new ‘clip-on’ shared path on the bridge for cyclists and pedestrians.

Former deputy mayor Tina Salisbury lives in Welcome Bay and said she and her husband tried to time their trips outside of peak traffic.

What would normally be a 15-minute trip to the CBD could take an hour, she said.

Salisbury said she was happy a solution is finally on the table but also thought four lanes would be better.

“Do it once and do it properly and make it fit for purpose for 30 years’ time.”

The plans aim to improve accessibility between 15th Ave and Welcome Bay in Tauranga. Image / Supplied.

The Western Bay of Plenty Transport System Plan ranked the Turret Rd corridor fourth in terms of peak hour congestion, safety problems and walking and cycling deficiencies.

Turret Rd is used by 28,000 vehicles per day and 15th Ave by 21,000, according to the business case.

At Monday’s meeting, Tauranga Mayor Mahé Drysdale said he was delighted to hopefully get some plans into a delivery phase as soon as possible.

“I have heard work is being done on Turret Rd for about the last 15 to 20 years, so it’s nice to finally have something happening.”

Turret Rd was a bottleneck, and it would be ideal for it to be four lanes rather than three, he said.

“The cost and the time that it would take to get that across the line is just going to kick the can down the road a little bit more.

“We’re better to get on and do this now.”

Council director of transport Mike Seabourne said it was about using the existing corridor more efficiently.

Four-laning the bridge was considered, but there were “serious barriers” including the environmental impacts of building in a coastal marine area and community feedback about the proposal.

Tauranga City Council general manager infrastructure Nic Johansson. Photo / Alex Cairns.

Council general manager infrastructure Nic Johansson said just making the bridge four lanes would cost more than $200 million and it was unlikely NZTA would fund this.

The 15th Ave to Welcome Bay corridor had a long history of congestion, poor levels of service, and access and safety problems, he said.

There was also a long history of potential solutions being looked at in the past, said Johansson.

The business case had been developed with input from NZTA and it had given advice about how to ensure it suited the new government policy statement (GPS) on transport, he said.

The NZTA board recently declined funding for the council’s $164m Cameron Rd stage two project because it didn’t align with the GPS.

Councillor Hautapu Baker asked how much the project would relieve congestion when complete.

15th Ave would become four lanes between Cameron Rd and Burrows St. Photo / File.

Seabourne said it was hard to put a finger on, but it would have a “material effect” on people’s journey times.

“They will save time travelling down this corridor at peak.”

Reliability would be improved which was almost more important than journey time, he said.

Councillor Rod Taylor asked how long the three-laning would provide capacity on the network.

Johansson said it had capacity for 20 years but that was if nothing else changed, most people still drove to work and other transport projects weren’t completed.

If those things changed the corridor would have capacity beyond 20 years, he said.

Tauranga City Councillor Rick Curach said progressing the project gave him joy. Photo / Alisha Evans.

Councillor Rick Curach worked with Wassung on the project in 2017. He said: “It certainly gives me some joy because a lot of water has passed under that bridge since we first started talking about it”.

Councillor Glen Crowther said during the construction phase there were “no good solutions” so the council needed to be clear in its communication with the community and come up with the “very best plan” they could.

He had concerns about whether NZTA would approve the business case because of the very limited funding and that Cameron Rd Stage 2 had not received its backing.

“I hope that this gets through.”

Stacey Spall, chair of the Bay of Plenty AA District Council, said their members have raised concerns about congestion in Welcome Bay and Hairini for some time.

Spall told Local Democracy Reporting the group was excited the project had been prioritised.

They hoped NZTA would look at the project favourably for funding, she said.

“We also think its got some pretty good bang for buck in terms of the infrastructure upgrades that will done at the same times.”

The business case will go before the NZTA board in October for approval.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.