Tauranga residents are up in arms after the council put in a new traffic island - and ripped it up a few days later.

The $64,000 traffic island was put in on Welcome Bay Road, but it was soon realised a design fault made the road too narrow.

The island has been ripped out and will be replaced, at a cost of around $12,000.

Resident Gerald Krohn says it's an absolute waste of tax payer money.

"It's atrocious," he says.

"I think anybody came out and had a look before they started the work would have realised there was not enough space."