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Tauranga City Council has reacted positively to a National Party announcement that it would prioritise the construction of four-lane highways linking Whangarei, Auckland and Hamilton to Tauranga, and start the Tauriko West SH29 component of the programme in the next 4-10 years.

Commission Chair Anne Tolley says that while there is a need for more detail about the timeframes and costs of the proposal, it is a good fit with her Council’s desire to remove the SH29 chokepoints affecting freight and traffic movement to the city and Port of Tauranga from Tauriko and the central North Island.

“The SmartGrowth councils and partners recently endorsed a Waka Kotahi business case to redevelop SH29 which would have a profound positive effect on the region’s economy,” she says. “This project would link directly to the four-lane highway system proposed by National and apart from delivering significant transport network improvements, would also unlock 20,000-plus new homes and facilitate at least 6,500 extra jobs. That SH29 development is crucial for the city and it needs to be delivered significantly faster than the 2050 timeframe set out in the current business case.”

Anne says an investment programme which would link the North Island’s economic powerhouses with an efficient highway system makes sense, and in this case, it would also facilitate homes, jobs and development, as well as improved safety and resilience.