TAURANGA | Transport Projects

[SYDNEY]

True to form - Go Tauranga

[Marky Mark]

By this Photo ......All this Land for Pre-casting

[Marky Mark]

By this Photo ......All this Land for Pre-casting Beams for the new Harbour Bridge



Preparation of Precast Concrete Yard. Crane rail foundations are being cast on site; Gantry cranes will be assembled on these rails in late September. Bridge beams for Chapel St viaduct will be precast in this yard prior to being lifted into place. The onsite yard will keep movement of finished beams within the construction site. The use of self-compacting concrete which does not require vibration will reduce the potential for excessive noise. During its lifetime, the yard will produce 184 beams, each up to 37 metres long and weighing up to 80 tonne.

[metroman]

I have never been to Tauranga but judging by this thread it looks like a nice place. I read in a local Brisbane newspaper today an article on Tauranga, it said that it was largely by passed by overseas tourists in favour of places like Rotorua and Taupo etc. While other parts of New Zealand are getting publicity Tauranga is largely unheard of and yet it is probably the most popular destinations for inbound tourism. It looks similar in many ways to the Sunshine Coast and could be described as New Zealand's very own mini Gold Coast. What is the population of Tauranga, Mount Maunganui and the other surrounding towns which would make up the greater area of Tauranga as this gives you a far better idea of the size of an area. What percentage is the population growing annually?

[NZer]

Tauranga is a wonderful, under-rated town.
Beautiful beaches, an interesting setting and it is growing and developing at a healthy rate.
I have only ever really had short visits to Tauranga/Mt.Maunganui, I would love to stay for a few days next time I'm over in NZ and have a better look.

[Davee]

Markys got me sold on the place!!

With our well used and much welcomed Christchurch - Tauranga direct airlink, all us pastie southerns can zoom up to T-land and get some fun on the beach

[NZer]

lol at DavidEugene.

..........Tauranga - the new Ibiza.

[metroman]

I would imagine that Tauranga has better nightlife than the Sunshine Coast that wouldn't be difficult. Is Tauranga likely to be promoting itself more to the overseas tourist market?

[Davee]

Originally Posted by NZer

lol at DavidEugene.

..........Tauranga - the new Ibiza.

[SYDNEY]

^ Oooooooooh weeeeeee .... memories of the alphabet are flashing back now .... a bit of A, a bit of E, a bit of C

[SYDNEY]

After Wellington, Tauranga/Mt is our 2nd favourite city in NZ .... I love the energy of the place, the beach is AWESOME, the people are good-looking & healthy & friendly. Definitely NZ's answer to The Gold Coast

[Marky Mark]

One on either side of the Harbour Bridge Construction Zone

Yucky

Bentonite Facility. This is an area for storage and mixing of Bentonite which will be used during pile construction. Also being constructed is a waste pond for holding Bentonite that can no longer be reused

[Marky Mark]

But will it happen ....not in the next ten Years

Engineer's $100m tunnel to rid Strand of rail

28.09.2007
By JOHN COUSINS

A tunnel costing up to $100 million has been proposed to get rid of the biggest barrier to Tauranga downtown reaching its full potential - the railway line along The Strand.

Engineer and geologist Tony Cowbourne was inspired by a recent city council planning decision to take a more aggressive stance against freight trains blighting the downtown.

His concept is for a 950m tunnel from the end of the Matapihi railway bridge running under Elizabeth St, turning under Cameron Rd and turning again to emerge and link up with the railway line at the northern end of Dive Crescent - near the Marsh St overbridge.





His plan was unveiled to a council meeting earlier this week.

Mr Cowbourne said the railway line which separated The Strand from the waterfront fundamentally changed that part of town, and even the whole dynamic of Tauranga. The waterfront, one of the jewels of Tauranga, would always be compromised by the railway in its present position, he said.

It was this frustration which prompted him to find a solution - helped by Deputy Mayor David Stewart winning his battle for a pivotal downtown planning document to take a tough stance against freight trains.

Instead of regarding trains as being part of the "port town atmosphere", the council's strategy to rejuvenate the city centre will now seek to get rid of them.

Mr Cowbourne has added light commuter rail to the tunnel to make it more viable than if it was exclusively for freight trains.

He envisages a loop line off the tunnel for light rail to connect to the council's planned bus transport centre in Durham St. The station would be at street level rather than underground.

He said light rail fundamentally changed the objectives of what the council tried to achieve six years ago when it last looked at removing freight trains from The Strand.

Mr Cowbourne said putting the railway underground along The Strand was almost impossible. Trains did not cope well with hills and a 5.5m cutting along the waterfront meant trains would have to start coming to the surface a long way before the Matapihi bridge.

He explained there were several ways a tunnel could be built. A technique popular overseas was called cut-and-cover where the concrete side walls and roof slabs were built first. The tunnel itself was then excavated below ground while things returned to normal on the surface.

Another option was to go deeper and dig a true tunnel. A big advantage of tunnelling was that it did not generate the same problems of traffic disruption during construction. Tunnelling also had less impact on underground services and future commercial development.

Mr Cowbourne had no doubts about the technology of the tunnel but it boiled down to political and community will.

[Marky Mark]

Bus lanes bringing new rules to Hewletts Rd

28.09.2007
By VICKI WATERHOUSE

The new bus lanes on Hewletts Rd, running from Totara St to Macdonald St, will be in use from Tuesday morning, weather permitting.

The lane markings will be painted on Monday night, right alongside the kerb.

Unlike other parts of the country, the bus lanes in the Bay can be used by cyclists and motorcyclists as well as buses and emergency vehicles.

With the lanes comes a new set of rules for motorists, so Transit will be sending out a brochure detailing the changes to Tauranga and Mount Maunganui residents from Monday.

Car drivers can only use the bus lanes for 50m when turning into or out of a driveway or side road.





Parking on a bus lane incurs a $150 fine.

The bus lanes will be indicated by signs which will be placed at the start of the lanes.

The bus lanes will operate 24 hours, seven days a week, and will be policed by Tauranga City Council enforcement officers.

Police can also issue tickets for incorrect use of the bus lane.

Transit Harbour Link project manager Kevin Reid said the introduction of bus lanes was to improve public transport and make it more appealing.

"It is a move to future-proof the city's transport network and encourage more people out of their cars and on to public transport," he said.

"We can move more people more quickly and efficiently.

"And eventually have fewer cars on the road."

With the bus lanes in place, the road works on Hewletts Rd are also coming to an end.

Fulton Hogan spokesman Graham Brighting said motorists would see road cones begin to disappear in numbers during the next few days.

Work is expected to be finished by the end of next week.

[metroman]

2050 is an eternity. As land become more scarce and the population continues to grow its obvious it won't be as far away as 2050 when the new satellite city the size of Nelson is built.

[NZer]

I don't think the B.O.P will have a problem with land being scarce, most of it's pretty country once you leave Tauranga.

[metroman]

Carefully masterplanned communities couldn't be described as urban sprawl. In Australia private companies are responsible for much of the initial infrastructure which is involved in setting up a masterplanned community. For example Stockland. I'm not sure if that exists yet in New Zealand or whether it is something that is only beginning to happen.

[Marky Mark]

Originally Posted by metroman

Carefully masterplanned communities couldn't be described as urban sprawl. In Australia private companies are responsible for much of the initial infrastructure which is involved in setting up a masterplanned community. For example Stockland. I'm not sure if that exists yet in New Zealand or whether it is something that is only beginning to happen.

Frasers from Aussie are doing this Massive Development at Papamoa ....will try and post a larger Render today

[Marky Mark]

Buses win freedom of road tomorrow

04.10.2007
By JOHN COUSINS

Bay Hopper buses are expected to become an irresistible lure for hundreds of queue-weary motorists with the opening of bus lanes on Hewletts Rd this week.

Instead of bus passengers patiently enduring the same rush-hour commuter queues as everyone else, they will soon be leaving everyone in their dust, zipping up and down dedicated bus lanes.

Painting the lanes with patches of green with white "bus lane" lettering should be finished today and the Bay Hoppers will begin using them full time by tomorrow morning.

The lanes are a vital tool in Transit New Zealand and Bay local authorities' thrust to get more people out of their cars and into buses, or the good old-fashioned healthy option of cycling to work.





Opening the bus lanes was part of a special presentation yesterday to celebrate the start of stage one of Transit New Zealand's $225 million Harbour Link project.

The year-long first stage to four-lane Hewletts Rd, west of Jean Batten Drive, was completed three weeks late but $3m under budget.

Harbour Link project manager Kevin Reid said the cost of construction was likely to be $13.3m. The savings were achieved despite the project requiring a special traffic management team to sort out the logistics of keeping one of Tauranga's busiest roads flowing.

Fulton Hogan's contract manager, Keith Campbell, said the job was made incredibly complex by the number of underground services that needed to be shifted, including fuel pipelines to bulk terminals.

He said it was extraordinary there were only three strikes of underground services during the year-long construction.

Mr Campbell put the $3m savings down to a partnership approach. Constructing a new road amid traffic flows of 24,000 vehicles a day had been an enormous challenge.

The last big challenge facing road planners was phasing the traffic signals down Hewletts Rd. The initial focus was on getting maximum co-ordination at peak times.

Environment Bay of Plenty chairman John Cronin was confident bus patronage would increase once people sitting in queues saw buses streaming past.

The bus lanes were a first for Tauranga and the biggest signal yet of the city's search for an integrated solution to transport woes.

"It is the way of the future," Cr Cronin said.

It was now up to the travelling public to get used to the new layout on Hewletts Rd, including that the bus lane was for the whole distance of the road - even though signs indicated it finished prior to each of the main intersections. This was only to allow traffic to enter the lane to turn into side roads.

Mr Reid also highlighted that motorists were allowed to make u-turns at the lights.

Motorists could use the bus lanes only for accessing and exiting businesses but if they tried to use it to leap-frog the queues they risk a $150 fine. Motorcyclists were free to use the bus lanes.

The two-laning of Totara St's approach to Hewletts Rd was also being extended back an further 200m next week to get traffic flowing more quickly through this major intersection.

[spotila]

That tunnel sounds awesome, that would certainly free up the waterfront like no ones business. If only aye