The NZ Transport Agency has performed a U-turn on plans to partially close part of a major Rotorua road after the city’s eastside ground to a halt on Monday.
The decision followed a stinging rebuke from Mayor Tania Tapsell and a major backlash from city businesses and residents.
State Highway 30A between Te Ngae Rd and Fenton St was closed for resurfacing yesterday. Work was scheduled to continue until December 12.
But road users experienced huge delays for usually routine journeys in and out of the city for much of Monday morning and early afternoon.
Those delays forced Tapsell to send an "urgent request" to reconsider the closure.
"The disruption has been much more significant than expected," Tapsell said. "Many people are feeling distressed at the wide-ranging impact this is having on our community."
A spokesperson for NZTA confirmed the detour heading out of the city had been removed to "allow peak afternoon traffic to use SH30A".
Lanes into town from the airport would still need to use the detour until 6am tomorrow morning.
But from 6am tomorrow, all lanes would be reopened.
The spokesperson said the agency will look at the planning and communicate new plans "as soon as possible".
"However, there is no way that this significant amount work can be completed at this location without causing some disruption to people’s journeys," the spokesperson said.
'Cones out and not a lot of action'
Tapsell had earlier asked NZTA for alternatives and "more transparency" over its decision to close the entire section of road.
"It may be easier for them but it’s coming at great cost to the local community," she said.
She also expressed concern over the "frustratingly inefficient" work.
"We only saw cones out and not a lot of action," she said.
Council’s group manager of infrastructure and assets Stavros Michael said NZTA "does not require council approval" for state highway works.
"We are not involved in the decision-making," he said.
'It's ridiculous'
Councillor Gregg Brown called it an "absolute cluster".
"It’s ridiculous and how they expected Rotorua to put up with it for three or four weeks is beyond me," said Brown.
"The Government bangs on about the lack of productivity across the country and, here we are, stuck in traffic for an hour and a half trying to get into town."
He also made it clear this was not a council error.
"It’s NZTA’s responsibility," said Brown.
"They’re thinking only about NZTA and not how the city needs to function."
He also worried about the impact on emergency services with traffic at a standstill.
'Holding Rotorua to ransom'
Rotorua businessman and developer Ray Cook said it felt like NZTA was "holding Rotorua to ransom" with the road closure.
After the "horrendous" first day he asked the council chief executive Andrew Moraes to act urgently with NZTA to advocate for a staged delivery on current and future projects.
"The current model is imposing an avoidable and unacceptable burden on Rotorua," Cook said.
He said the closure caused disruption that was "economically and operationally unsustainable” with several businesses already making losses after missed deliveries.
"Any cost efficiencies NZTA gained by pushing this through as a single-stage closure are being outweighed daily by lost productivity, disrupted essential services, and compromised emergency access."
He proposed a two-stage method, with one lane access maintained, as a preferred alternative.
Students late to school, exams
Secondary school students are currently in exam season and Rotorua Girls’ High School principal Sarah Davis said three students nearly missed their level 1 Te Reo Māori NCEA exam.
Six eastside staff members were also roughly two hours late.
"We had several phone calls from very stressed whānau trying to get their girls to school and exams on time," Davis said.
Lynmore Primary School principal Hinei Taute said she came out from her office to an "exceptionally long line" of late students this morning.
She said these children would be marked as present and she hoped other schools would follow suit.
SH30A needed a full asphalt rebuild after years of patching.
NZTA has pulled in large machinery and two crews for the work.
Work was still expected to finish by December 12 despite earlier weather delays.
– LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
SHARE ME