Tauranga police are targeting a Welcome Bay street they believe is being treated as a ‘raceway' by some motorists.

Sergeant Lester Polglase says some people are driving too fast on Kaitemako Road. File Picture.

On Friday night police caught 22 motorists for excessive speeding during a two hour sting operation on Kaitemako Road.

Sergeant Lester Polglase of the Western Bay of Plenty highway patrol unit says residents were coming out of their homes during the operation and thanking officers for targeting speedsters.

He believes most of the motorists speeding along the road are locals.

'The locals up there think it's a racing track,” says Lester.

'It's not someone from out of town who is unfamiliar with the road.”

He says only vehicles travelling over 60km/h were targeted.

The highest speed recorded during the sting was 89km/h along the 50km/h road, but Lester says there have been reports that many vehicles are travelling at speeds close to 100km/h.

'Someone doing 89km/h; from the time they see say a kid run out onto the road, it's going to take them 89 metres to stop.”

'The impact at that sort of speed means it's a fatality. They are not going to walk away from it.”

The 22 motorists caught were issued fines ranging between $80 and $400.

Lester says the residents who thanked police on the day shows there was real concern about the speed.

'Speed limits are there for a reason. It's not a figure plucked out of the air.

'Given the foot traffic, houses, the built up area and the big park there, that sort of speed is unacceptable.”