TE PUKE TAKES
BYPASS TO HEART
By Tessa Whale
Thursday Oct 22, 2015
Mixed reactions are circulating over a recently-opened highway which bypasses the main street of small town Te Puke in the Bay of Plenty.
As seen in a recent social media discussion, opinions are a mix of concern for local businesses, and positivity about a better town environment, improved safety, reduced travel times, and resulting regional growth.
Interactive Google Map of old route through Te Puke, and new route via the Tauranga Eastern Link
Lined with retail shops, dairies, and bakeries, Te Puke's Jellicoe St was filled with heavy traffic before the Tauranga Eastern Link (TEL) opened on August 3, providing a more direct route from Tauranga to Paengaroa.
After interviewing several businesses, it seems that although some stores have noticed no change, others are suffering.
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Super Clearance duty manager Harjeet Singh says the bypass has definitely affected them with a noticeable drop in customers: "Our shop was popular with people on long routes. They could stop off at our stop and buy everything, drinks, things like that."
Similarly, Sundany Sou from the A4 Bakery & Cafe, says although they still have customers coming through with traffic, she feels it is less than before.
In contrast, the owners of the Foursquare, Tina and Vinnie Gillgren, claim to have remained unaffected. “Because most of our customers are local, we haven’t noticed any change”, says Mr Gillgren.
Although some businesses have not been affected by the bypass, another issue yet to be considered is whether the bypass will affect businesses when summer arrives and holidaymakers travelling will then be able to bypass Te Puke.
Interactive Google Maps street view of Jellicoe Street, Te Puke (click on road to travel along)
Yet, despite the concerns of businesses, locals are celebrating the bypass improving the town environment now that boutique-lined Jellicoe St is devoid of trucks and fumes.
"For us it’s awesome … I think it’s going to be quite good because the trucks have disappeared from Te Puke quite noticeably, and the local community is going on as normal,” says a local. "When the trucks went past, the buildings would shake … but now they don’t," says another.
Station Officer Len Sabin of the New Zealand Fire Service also says the bypass will have reduced the risk to pedestrians in the main street of Te Puke.
The $455 million Tauranga Eastern Link is a four-lane highway cutting through rolling dairy pasture, lined with secure fencing along the sides and middle.
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The highway contrasts safety-wise with the old route; a section of windy two-lane State Highway 2, which according to the NZTA website was the second-worst state highway for fatalities and serious crashes per kilometre under the New Zealand Road Safety Assessment Programme.
"The old State Highway 2 was flagged as a high risk corridor, and as a consequence of that the TEL was built. The design of that road is a 4 star design – so a 4 star safety rating – which significantly improves road safety, separates opposing streams of traffic, and is a significant improvement," says Senior Sergeant Ian Campion, officer in charge of road policing for the Western Bay of Plenty.
Furthermore, the bypass has made the port of Tauranga more accessible to the East Cape and central North Island.
In a media release on the NZTA website, Harry Wilson, Transport Agency's Waikato/ Bay of Plenty Regional Director, says the road will bring many social benefits and create economic opportunities in the Eastern Bay of Plenty.
Mr Wilson says the bypass will provide predictable travel times which are critical to business and growth, and that the 12 minute reduction per trip will even allow some freight operators to complete an extra trip each day.
“The Tauranga Eastern Link has been designed to support the growth of the Bay of Plenty, reduce travel times and improve safety."