Three-year effect of the Tauranga Eastern Link
Opinions divided on benefits of bypass for Te Puke
top prize in the country as Cafe of the Year.
“The Aberdeen Christmas Shed has set up an amazing and creative Christmas store with a grotto and top quality Christmas ornaments and product.
“They now see visitors coming over from Hamilton and Rotorua as word spreads about their business, a true destination shop.”
The downtown area is “really blossoming into a beautiful shopping destination”.
“With the main street improvements, I believe we will continue to see more improvement due to the bypass and a pedestrian friendly atmosphere.”
Paper Plus Te Puke owner, Stuart Gunn, said it was harder to connect any negatives or positives to the opening of the road. He said a lot of motorists used the TEL but traffic volumes in Te Puke’s centre did not seem to have dropped.
“How much of that TEL traffic would have stopped in Te Puke? No one knows.”
Some locals complained about parking shortages, so he questioned what the town would look like if the TEL traffic came through and tried to stop in Te Puke as well.
There were extra costs such as petrol, time and parking in Tauranga if residents south of Te Puke chose to bypass the town and travel to Tauranga to shop because of the TEL, he said.
But for Te Puke it all comes
"Since the bypass, we have seen several businesses in town making significant improvements to their businesses and many new exciting arrivals." Rebecca Larsen, EPIC Te Puke marketing manager
down to having the retail offering that is relevant to those people who have a choice as to where to go, he said.
“If we have that relevant offering then why would anyone spend an extra 20 minutes to get to Tauranga, then 20 minutes to find a park and then a further 20 minutes to get back,” he said.
Gunn said there has been “considerable recent investment” in Te Puke by some retailers which showed confidence in its retail future.
Another local retailer, Marge Martelletti of Giftrapt, said she had two different viewpoints.
She said the road was helpful when she was in Pa¯pa¯moa or Mount Maunganui and needed to travel to her daughters, who lived in Maketu¯ and Paengaroa.
However, in her view the bypass has negatively affected the retail sector.
“The expressway has enabled people living the outer areas of Maketu¯, Paengaroa, Pukehina, Pongakawa to travel to other areas to shop in less travel time. Te Puke has taken a hit in the retail sector with the expressway being one factor,” she said.
Western Bay mayor Garry Webber said it would be difficult to say how the TEL contributed to the local economy. He said while there were initial concerns at how the TEL would affect local businesses, life “seems to have continued” and it was great to see large developments adding to the vibrancy of the town.
Tauranga MP Simon Bridges said the Tauranga Eastern Link has been an “amazing piece of lead infrastructure.
“A lot of people in Te Puke were worried about it [the road] before it was finished. They thought it might mean their town went dead,” Simon says.
But he said the outcome had been the opposite.
“It’s given the people their town back, made it more vibrant and more friendly. Te Puke is going from strength to strength and the Tauranga Eastern Link has been a very important contributor to that.”