SH2 traffic: Motorists trying to beat Ōmokoroa to Tauranga congestion under fire

Motorists using rural roads off jammed State Highway 2 to beat traffic have been blasted by an outspoken councillor who believes using the nickname “rat runners” for them is unfair to rats.

Western Bay District
councillor Don Thwaites believed using the moniker “rat runners” for motorists trying to skirt around the traffic jams was “unfair to rats.”

In his view: “They (rats) behave way better.”

Thwaites has spoken out after commuters expressed increasing frustration with traffic delays on a stretch of highway used by more than 25,000 vehicles a day.

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency and the Tauranga City Council are carrying out separate roading projects between Ōmokoroa and Bethlehem and have warned delays will continue for some time.

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency has acknowledged the congestion has surprised them and the delays are unacceptable.

Thwaites said he and another councillor had decided not to attend most council meetings and workshops in person due to the traffic congestion.

Thwaites, who lived at Te Puna, and Murray Grainger, who lived in Ōmokoroa, would now Zoom into meetings as they had done during the Covid-19 lockdown.

Thwaites said he no longer wanted to contribute to the “horrendous” Tauranga-bound traffic, he said.

On Wednesday, Thwaites saw a school bus filled with secondary school students still stuck in rural traffic at 9.15 am, which was “disgraceful”.

Thwaites believed “pusher-inners” were exacerbating the traffic woes and he was particularly concerned about heavy vehicles using side roads.

Thwaites said many drivers left SH2 at Snodgrass Rd and used the back roads to eventually cut in front of the congestion on the main highway via Clarke Rd now after Te Puna Station Rd was closed in January.

“It’s is not rat running, it is pushing in,” he said.

“They wouldn’t do it in the supermarket queue… but wrap 1.7 tonnes around them,” he said, referring to some trucks in particular.

Thwaites conducted an unscientific survey of his own, counting 915 vehicles per hour travelling to Tauranga at Wairoa Bridge on Wednesday morning. He said by his own estimates, the count should be closer to 1450 or 1500 per hour but there was a “loss of capacity” because of the time taken by heavy vehicles pulling out of side roads.

When Te Puna Station Rd was first closed in January due to large slips, Thwaites timed how long it took to travel between Snodgrass Rd and Te Puna Rd (six minutes), and from Te Puna Rd to Wairoa Bridge (five minutes). It was 11 minutes in total.

Now, he said it took 41 minutes for the same journey.

Grainger said it took him two hours to travel from Ōmokoroa to the council’s office at Barkes Corner this week, a distance of about 22km. Thirty minutes of that was just reaching the Ōmokoroa turnoff, he said.

Western Bay councillor Tracey Coxhead, who lived on Clarke Rd, said the amount of traffic now using it as a thoroughfare was concerning.

Coxhead believed some heavy vehicles were an issue.

“The road was not built for large trucks like that,” she said.

The road’s surface and berms were being ripped up as a result, she said.

In some instances, branches from trees – planted about 40 years ago by residents – that stand alongside the small road were being broken off by these vehicles, she said.

A Clarke Rd resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the situation on their road and the increase in through traffic had become a safety issue.

The woman said the road was more of a lane yet it had a speed limit of 80km/h.

“It’s not wide enough for two cars to pass each other at that speed.”

When a car and truck were both on the road, “there’s no room for both to pass so both end up going on the berm”.

In addition to this, Clarke Rd was frequently used by cyclists on the Ōmokoroa to Tauranga cycleway stopping at the nearby cafe.

There had already been close calls, the woman said.

Chicanes installed on the road to help slow traffic down, and their associated signs, were regularly driven over by trucks, she said.

“If the signs are down at night and someone who doesn’t know the road comes along and doesn’t see the signs, then that’s an accident waiting to happen also.”

The woman said others in the neighbourhood were equally concerned.

“We are all just waiting for something bad to happen. It sounds dreadful.”

National Road Carriers Association chief executive Justin Tighe-Umbers said the impact would be felt widely if heavy vehicles did not use back roads to get ahead.

“We are all depending on these goods being delivered… They have contracts and agreements to observe, they will do what they need to with safety considerations.”

If heavy vehicle drivers did not work to get ahead, everyone would end up “paying the price for that in terms of more expensive goods”, Tighe-Umbers said.

“Road traffic operators pay for the roads through fuel excise duty and Road User Charges. That includes not just state highways but local council roads as well. Roading authorities need to keep their roads up to standard.

“Goods need to be delivered throughout the country. That’s why it’s so important Waka Kotahi keeps up with their maintenance.

“Ultimately, this comes down to keeping up with road maintenance.”

Rob Campbell, regional manager of maintenance and operations for Waka Kotahi, said the delays on SH2 were “unacceptable” and the agency “fully appreciates the frustration and anger this is causing”.

“The level of congestion has caught us by surprise and while we’re still trying to understand why it’s as bad as it is.”

On Sunday, the agency started a major rehabilitation of SH2, between the Wairoa Bridge and Bethlehem, which included rebuilding and asphalting the road surface.

Campbell said the sheer volume of traffic was a major factor and human behaviour was contributing to delays “as drivers slow down to look at the works or leave large spaces in between vehicles, creating a long tailback. He asked people to “please keep moving” at the signposted limit, which would help.

Campbell said drivers trying to get ahead via the back roads disrupted traffic and created a domino effect when they returned to the main highway.

He said not all local roads were appropriate for use by heavy vehicles “and while we haven’t heard that they’re using them to avoid SH2, we’re following up with stakeholders”.

Campbell agreed with Tighe-Umbers that road maintenance was important. The latest works were planned to avoid impact on all road users “as much as possible”. In addition to this, the agency communicated with the freight industry in advance to find out how best to accommodate their needs, he said.

Campbell said it considered potential impact in light of the kiwifruit season, existing work further north on SH2, and the Wairoa Cycleway project when planning its current works.

“We also had to weigh up how critical the maintenance work is.”

Because of how busy this section of highway was, winter looming and that the maintenance work had already been deferred last year, these works could not be put off further, Campbell said.

The works were scheduled to take place at night to avoid the level of disruption during the day and full night closures meant more could be achieved in less time, he said.

Another road closure was planned for last night and another on Sunday.

Campbell encouraged people to work from home where possible, leave earlier if able, and allow for extra time.

“We’re due to complete resurfacing in early June and the Tauranga City Council estimates its cycleway works will be completed in July, but congestion issues are set to continue for some time yet.”

By 2050, the Western Bay of Plenty is projected to be home to 258,000 residents, requiring 34,000 more homes and generating one million movements per day on the transport network.

“If we do nothing, road congestion and pollution from transport emissions will significantly worsen,” Campbell said.

Western Bay of Plenty District Council was contacted for comment.