Tauranga City's cycle plan will be accelerated with a $9.8m funding boost over the next three years.

The ratepayers' $9.8m plus a $10.2m contribution from NZTA brings the total cycleway spending to $20m.

Council funding over years one to three is committed and is not conditional on the NZTA subsidy increasing above its current rate of 51 per cent.

From years four to 10, Council has agreed to $4m per annum, which equates to a contribution of $1.96m per annum from ratepayers and a contribution of $2.4m per annum from NZTA.

This is a total of $28m over years four to 10, which isn't conditional on the NZTA subsidy increasing above its current rate of 51 per cent.

If NZTA increases its subsidy significantly in line with the recent government policy statement then Council will commit an additional $12.68m over years four to 10.

If the NZTA subsidy is increased to 67 per cent this will provide an additional $52m in funding. The additional $12.68m contribution from Council is conditional on a significant increase in NZTA subsidy.

The decision comes after strong submission from the community calling for the city council to accelerate the cycle programme to deliver it in less than a decade, instead of the 30 years originally proposed.

The decision is supported by 77 per cent of the people who responded to the consultation document saying the council should put a greater priority on improving public transport, walking and cycling and 69 per cent would prefer to see a compact rather than expanding footprint as the city grows, says transport engineer Clare Cassidy.

'These responses are largely supportive of the problems and benefits identified in the Tauranga Transport programme and help to identify the priority areas for intervention over years 1-3 of the Long Term Plan.”

The recent change in government is likely to change the funding priorities for transport projects.

A new Government Policy Statement is expected in advance of publication of the National Land Transport Programme for 2018-21, but timeframes for that are currently unknown.

The mayor and councillors voted to support the ‘Balanced public transport and active mode' programme of the Tauranga Transport Programme.

It's a spending option described in the agenda as aspirational, and promoting more use of all modes, encouraging mode shift well from private vehicles, whilst providing different options for freight.

The first three years of the programme are focussed on smaller scale projects that have been identified through previous planning work.

There is also funding proposed to develop designs and detailed business cases for projects identified as being necessary in years 4-10.

These projects can then be reviewed again as part of the 2021-31 Long Term Plan.

The entire transport plan proposes spending $192.2m over the ten year plan.

The chosen option invests more heavily in improving public transport, walking and cycling. It includes projects to increase road capacity, but the additional space would mainly be used for buses, high-occupancy vehicles and freight.

In years 0-3, total proposed spend is $39.9M. Highlights of the programme include:

• Cycle and pedestrian improvements in Mount Maunganui including Totara Street, Maunganui Road, Marine Parade and Blake Park - $6.4M
• Infrastructure; stops, shelters, pedestrian connections to support bus network changes. Interchange improvements at Windermere and Brookfield - $1.6M
• New bus interchanges at Hairini and CBD - $3.5M
• Ngatai Road cycleway. Improvements to Beach Road and Harbour Drive paths - $1.9M
• Domain Road upgrade - $10.1M
• Initial bus priority measures for the city loop service - $1.5M
• Cycle plan delivery - $12M

The main additional projects in the chosen option are 15th Avenue/Turret Road capacity for all modes of transport ($60m), urban centre enhancements to support compact living ($30m), cycle bulk fund ($24m), and access to Smiths Farm ($10m).