Richard Claydon

A trip to Tauranga on Tuesday was much delayed despite being a 100 kilometre an hour highway.

Traffic on the two-lane Matatā straight at 10.15am was delayed by a two slow-moving vehicles that did not pull over, so congestion existed over most of the length until they turned off  separately.

Then, after the roadworks at Pukehina, more congestion with a very  large industrial loader holding up traffic until near the service station.

Returning at 2.30pm, traffic slowdowns reoccurred not far from the Te Puke bypass, with numerous heavy farm tractors delaying traffic,  time and the same again all the way to Matatā.

These units should have pulled over at times and allowed traffic build-ups to pass.

Let’s get real. A growing population makes many two lane highways not future-suitable. Highway and council planning should aim for more four lane highways. Start by implementing passing lanes, which will solve the problem of farm and industrial traffic, and build towards a four-lane future.

Keeping State Highway 30 at 80kmh does not make sense. Let's be practical. Restore it to 100kmh and build towards the future.