Tauranga City Councillors have asked for more information before deciding Route K's future.
The toll road through the Kopurererua Valley is not paying its way and raising the tolls is necessary to prevent ratepayers having to bail it out.
A staff recommendation is that car tolls be doubled to $2 and heavy vehicle tolls be raised from $4 to $5.

If the tolls are not increased in the next couple of years, ratepayers will have to support it. The council staff report says $32.5 million of Route K debt would need to be transferred, a permanent rate increase of $38 per rateable property.
Councillors reaffirmed their policy that Route K will not be paid for by ratepayers, but they want more information about toll levels and political options.
The tolls are linked to the route's future management, especially after the Te Puke bypass toll route becomes operational.
The eastern arterial is a Land Transport Management Act scheme. Route K is an
'orphan” system. Talks have been going on about making Route K part of the LTMS so the two road tolling systems can be integrated when the eastern arterial begins operation.
That integration with the state highway system was originally set to happen when the Harbour Link Project was being considered as a tolling project.
David Stewart says the council will have to make Route K work financially before it can become part of any government network.
Rick Curach wants the council to pursue the political side, pressing the Transport Agency and the Ministry to incorporate Route K into the state highway network.
'You have five years to do it,” says chief executive Stephen Town. 'These are not fast processes. We have been talking about these options since Route K opened.”
Others want information about the effects on other city access roads; Cameron Road and Moffat Road-Cambridge Road if the tolls are increased.
A generally worded all-encompassing resolution allowing things to move forward over the next 12-18 months was supported by all the councillors except Murray Guy and Bill Grainger. Murray Guy wants the tolls removed altogether.
The Tauranga City Council originally built Route K as part of the district's strategic roading network. It acted to secure a route threatened by other development, says councillor David Stewart.
The traffic projections were wrong. Councillors of the day acted on assurances the road would have at least 6000 vehicles per day using it. Nearly nine years after it opened in July 2003, Route K has 4200-4800 vehicles per day using on week days. By now traffic volumes were expected to be 12,000 vehicles per day.
The road cost $63.6 million and the city council has a debt for it of $51.9 million. The debt will be increased by $12.8 million when the council's share of the Pyes Pa bypass is transferred next year.