Traffic woes continue in Mt Maunganui cul-de-sac

Wednesday, 24 August 2022

Links Avenue is closed between Solway Place and Concord Avenue to all traffic except buses.

A community panel set up to find a solution for the traffic issues in Links Avenue is determined to reach its goal but members are aware of the challenges they face.

The Links Avenue Community Panel was set up in July by Tauranga City Council in response to a community backlash about the cul-de-sac that blocks off one end of the Mt Maunganui street.

In March, Links Avenue was closed between Solway Place and Concord Avenue to all traffic except buses, bikes and authorised vehicles in response to residents’ safety concerns.

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Initially, the council said it would be a four-month trial but now the closure will remain until another solution is found.

Panel spokespeople Sophie Merwe and Dan McLean wanted to be proactive, so they joined the community panel.

The cul-de-sac is formed by two bus lanes and anyone that travels down them illegally receives a $150 fine.

In the first two months of the trial close to 17,000 fines were issued, equating to about $2.5 million in revenue.

Panel spokesperson Sophie Merwe put herself forward for the panel because she was impacted by the trial.

“I was quite emotional about it [the trial] because it just sort of happened without a lot of input from the community,” she said.

“But I like to think I am a proactive person and so rather than just sit and whinge, I contacted council and put my thoughts forward.

“I was a little bit disappointed that we were not consulted before it started, as a community, like we are now.”

Merwe lives in Berwick Place and uses Links Avenue multiple times a day. She had “mixed” thoughts about the cul-de-sac but said safety of the street had improved and the quiet street was “nice”.

Links Avenue is close to the popular Mt Maunganui mall of Bayfair.

“It is really frustrating when I am coming back from Pāpāmoa or Bayfair [because] you have to go all the way around.

“But at the same time, it is really nice being able to turn right on to Links Ave, out of Ascot [Road] without waiting for someone to let you into a line of traffic.”

Fellow spokesperson Dan McLean agreed Links Avenue was a “safer space” because of the cul-de-sac.

“I truly believe that it has proactively addressed any concerns relating to the school kids and the risks that they were potentially subject to with the high volumes of traffic on that road pre the trial,” said McLean.

“I travel at school times and it is just a totally different landscape there now.”

Prior to the trial there were more than 7000 vehicle movements per day on the road, which is a travel corridor for Mt Maunganui Intermediate, Omanu School and Mt Maunganui College.

Links Avenue is classified as a residential street and a safe volume of vehicles is 2000-2500 per day.

The panel is made up of 12 members of different ages and situations who live in Links Avenue or the surrounding streets, with one member from Pāpāmoa.

McLean said: “What this has done is brought a whole lot of like-minded people with different ideas and from different backgrounds to the table.”

He acknowledged it was a complex issue to design a solution for, because of the geography, the transport strategy, the health and safety of children, cyclists and pedestrians as well as catering for buses and future-proofing.

“It does make it really problematic to just come up with one solution.

“As a group, we acknowledge that there is no clear solution or proposal that is going to meet the needs of everyone but certainly there is an opportunity to create a proposal and a process that engages everyone.”

Merwe said: “We are trying to come up with ideas that will work for most people, acknowledging that it is not going to work for everybody.”

The pair heard a range of different views through being on the panel, which had changed their thinking.

McLean said that before being on the panel he was happy for the cul-de-sac to remain but after hearing one woman’s experience he realised a different solution was needed.

He said the impacts of the trial were far greater for some than others.

“While many residents are pleased with the reduction in traffic the cul-de-sac has brought about, there are also negative effects being borne unfairly by some people in our community.

“These range from quite serious isolation experienced by some to matters of inconvenience for others.

“It is just trying to get a balance between one's needs versus the majority of others.”

Merwe said they were taking everyone’s thoughts on board to try to incorporate them into a solution.

Once the panel had some firm proposals, they would present these to a reference group of 25 other people to “test” their thinking.

“It is really important to us that it is not just us. We want everybody to have a say,” she said.

The panel was provided with an independent facilitator by the council and has access to any specialists or information it requires.

A deadline has not been set for a solution but the panel is hoping to have something in the next few months.

The proposal must reduce traffic, provide for the bus service and will be subject to a safety audit before the commissioners make the final decision on a permanent solution.

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