Election 2020: Tauranga Candidates air views on Bay of Plenty's toll roads

But Tauranga's NZ First candidate, Erika Harvey, believes the toll roads need to go to decrease traffic congestion in the city.
"Roading and infrastructure will take time and planning to deliver on, but in the interim we also need to lock in quick wins for our city.
"Alleviating the tolls would drastically increase traffic flow especially to and from Tauriko and Pyes Pa to the CBD."
She believed the elimination of the tolls would remove congestion from Cameron Rd, "especially in Greerton".
But it wouldn't change the need to support a multi-modal transport system, Tauranga City Council infrastructure general manager Nic Johansson believes.
If it were to become an option, Johansson said the council would need to investigate how traffic volumes might be impacted in places like Greerton, Barkes corner, Elizabeth St and elsewhere.
"We would need to respond with appropriate measures to ensure bottlenecks are not just moved around."
While it was not a solution, Harvey said it was also "too costly" for residents to use the toll every day and alternative infrastructure projects would take time.
However, other candidates say the public voted for the toll roads in the first place.