Tauranga tolls: Highway costs shouldn't 'burden' city - residents

Proposed tolls on another Tauranga highway are "excessive" and "grossly unfair" given the city already has two of the country's three toll roads, residents say.

Tauranga and Western Bay of Plenty residents are calling out NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi's proposal to toll the Takitimu North Link (TNL) once it opens in 2028.

Construction of the $655 million stage one, a 6.8km four-lane expressway between Tauranga and Te Puna stage, is under way.

NZTA is proposing a toll to cover maintenance costs and fund the construction of stage two.

Under the proposal out for consultation, motorists in light vehicles using the stage one route would be charged $2.10 to $3.10 per use depending on the time of day, while heavy vehicles would pay $4.20 to $6.20.

Proposed tolls for stage two, which would complete the route from Ōmokoroa to Tauranga, increase to a maximum of $4.10 for light vehicles and $8.20 for heavy vehicles during peak hours.

Ōmokoroa community board member Chris Dever did not have a problem with tolls, but the proposed prices were "excessive".

Travelling from his Ōmokoroa home to Tauranga, including fuel, would cost him around $16 for the 20km journey.

"It shouldn't be a significant amount of money, it should just be a little nibble every time you use the road."

Dever also questioned the fairness of it, as Transmission Gully in Wellington and the Waikato Expressway were not tolled.

"That three of the four toll roads in New Zealand would all be in the Bay of Plenty seems grossly unfair."

Takitimu Drive and the Tauranga Eastern Link (TEL) are both tolled, along with Auckland's Northern Gateway.

Katikati / Waihī Beach councillor Rodney Joyce said NZTA needed to be careful not to price people off the road.

If too many vehicles continued to use the current road - congestion-plagued State Highway 2 - it would end up costing ratepayers through maintenance costs.

"It'll become a cost on ratepayers if it's overused."

The region also needed more than just the TNL to deal with its congestion and infrastructure deficit, he said.

Smartgrowth leadership group iwi representative Riki Nelson said the TNL would be a road of national significance and the "burden" of paying for it should not fall solely on Western Bay of Plenty.

"Our communities resent the fact that this Government is putting that burden on our local communities, on all the people that live and work, not just in Tauranga, but our wider region."

People were already struggling due to the lack of investment over decades in infrastructure, said Nelson, who was also member of the NZTA northern Tauranga iwi advisory group.

The Port of Tauranga - New Zealand's largest port - was a "significant asset," and Nelson said the region added enough to the national economy to warrant investment in infrastructure.

Ōmokoroa resident Kevin Payne said the road should be tolled.

"Someone in Whangarei or Dunedin, why should their income be going to a road that 90 percent of the people using it are going to be from this district?

"That's not fair, it's not equitable."

Payne is retired but travels to Tauranga three days a week to look after his grandchildren.

Jason Ponder said people already paid enough in fuel excise tax and road user charges, so it was not acceptable to add extra costs.

The Whakamārama resident owns a construction company and travels to Tauranga up to three times a day.

The tolls made it unaffordable so Ponder would just use the existing highway.

"The whole idea of doing that road is to reduce congestion and in doing so, it needs to be affordable.

"Taxing people in the way of tolls is just ridiculous."

NZTA senior manager project services Jo Wilton said the Government's policy statement on transport introduced an expectation for NZTA to consider tolling for maintenance of all new roads, including roads of national significance.

The TNL was expected to move regional traffic and freight away from local roads, she said.

Modelling for 2031 showed 34,000 vehicles could travel between Tauranga and Ōmokoroa each day using both the TNL and existing state highway.

The annual population increase was 2 percent to 3 percent and the transport system needed investment to provide for the growth, she said.

Funding for stage one was secured but tolling the road would cover maintenance costs and support construction of stage two.

It also provided revenue to support other major infrastructure projects, she said.

If people travelled on the TNL and then onto Takitimu Drive or Tauranga Eastern Link they would pay the individual toll for each road, Wilton said.

The tolls would be removed when the cost of the road was recovered.

For Takitimu Drive the toll was expected to be removed in 2031 and the TEL was 2049. The TNL was proposed to be tolled for 35 years.

Proposed toll prices aimed to bring in sufficient revenue across the lifespan of the road to recoup the construction costs and contribute to maintenance and operation, Wilton said.

Proposed tolls on Takitimu North Link

Under the proposal, a light vehicle trip would cost $3.10 one way during peak times (7-9am and 4-6pm) and $2.10 during off-peak times.

For heavy vehicles a peak-hour trip would cost $6.20 one way and $4.20 off-peak.

Proposed tolls for stage two if travelling from Ōmokoroa to Tauranga would be $4.10 for light vehicles at peak times and $3.10 off-peak, and $8.20 at peak for heavy vehicles and $6.20 off-peak.

Public consultation on the tolls closes at 5pm on 7 October. Submissions can be made via NZTA's website.