Agencies tangled in the Johnsonville traffic triangle
Local authorities are making ?a real mess? of Johnsonville?s traffic upgrades according to Johnsonville Progressive Association president Tony Randle adding that a recent petition in favour of the mall upgrade stipulated it would only work if traffic congestion was addressed. ?The petition included as a main condition that the Wellington City Council (WCC) improve the roads in the area. ?All the roads have problems with congestion, especially the triangle round the mall,? says Mr Randle. The petition attracted 1,244 signatures and was delivered to the WCC strategy and policy committee on August 6. However, there are still no ?defined plans? on how to fix congestion problems. ?In the WCC regional plan [Johnsonville is] a decade away from receiving funding for roads, and it could become a major issue,? says Mr Randle. He also says a communication breakdown between local authorities could affect the success of the mall development. ?The scope of improvements earmarked is very narrow and will result in bottlenecks in surrounding areas,? he says. There are currently three separate studies underway to determine roading changes that will work best, which hints at a level of disassociation between agencies. ?Getting decisions and funds for traffic issues is almost impossible. ?There are different partners doing different things at the same time, they are going study, study, study. He says resource consent discussions with the WCC allowed for a more defined image of Johnsonville?s future to emerge. However, Transit and the GWRC have been ?poor at communicating? and ?noticeable by their absence?. ?They have not been co-coordinating with the WCC on roading, and there is no alignment between their arguments and studies. ?It?s like they only have one part of the picture ? it?s a real mess,? he says. The malls developers, DNZ Property LTD, have put a ?whole lot of work? into suggesting road improvements. Mr Randle says it?s up to the WCC to integrate the developments with a major restructuring of the roads.
