Arataki bus hub upgrade

With more than 40,000 bus passengers a month, Arataki is the second busiest bus hub in Tauranga, with many drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians also passing through the area to access schools and Bayfair Shopping Centre. Following the community’s calls for better shelters and a safer environment, we're giving the bus hub a much-needed upgrade. The upgrade will make travelling by bus more user-friendly, improve safety during transit, and provide a friendlier welcome to and departure from Arataki.

Improvements include:

• Replacing existing Farm Street shelters with new high-quality, high-capacity shelters along each side of the road. These shelters will be modern, well lit, and feature decorative cultural elements from local hapū.
• A new street furniture suite designed to reflect the area including open seating, bicycle parking and rubbish bins.
• Enhanced pedestrian crossings, wider footpaths, and a new shared user path for safer access to and from the bus hub and Bayfair for cyclists, pedestrians, wheelchair users, skaters, and scooter riders.
• Improved streetlights, and new CCTV monitoring to enhance visibility, safety and reduce crime.
• Landscaping for a greener and more beautiful neighbourhood with more shade.
• New signage and information boards to help people get where they need to go, no matter how they’re travelling.
• Wider accessibility and placemaking between Girven Road and Concord Avenue may follow in late 2024, subject to funding.

Downer NZ have been awarded the contract by Tauranga City Council.

Project timings

Construction began on Monday, 5 August 2024, and is expected to be completed in mid-November 2024 (weather dependent).

While there is some noise and vibration associated with this work, we aim to keep disruption to a minimum. Our hours of work will be 7am to 5pm Monday – Friday.

Traffic management

To deliver this upgrade safely and efficiently, the existing bus shelters and footpaths in the work site on Farm Street are closed during construction and a temporary pedestrian pathway has been installed. During construction, vehicle access through the site is one-way only with entry from Taupo Avenue, with access to Bayfair Shopping Centre maintained at all times. This temporary traffic arrangement allows us to complete the works in less time.

Temporary bus stops

The Farm Street bus stops have been moved approximately 80 metres towards Concord Avenue during construction. Stops and routes are clearly signposted, and traffic controllers are available to help bus patrons during working hours.

View routes from temporary bus stops

See the map below or for more information on Bayhopper bus services visit www.baybus.co.nz.

Background

Since 2018 we’ve conducted exhaustive and comprehensive options analysis for possible locations, and several rounds of community consultation have been completed. These identified Farm Street as the preferred location for the bus hub. This is supported by Bay of Plenty Regional Council (service provider).

The upgrade will complement other upcoming projects in Arataki such as a new signalised crossing for Girven Road, intersection improvements and new raised pedestrian crossings at Oceanbeach Road, Maranui Street, and Girven Road, and safety enhancements on Links Avenue.

FAQ