Local views on Transmission Gully
Those communities that will be most affected by transmission gully are decrying the upgrade being shunted to phase two. Pautahanui Inlet Trust chairperson Christine Stanley says the project could stall with no clear time-frame given for work to start on the northern corridor. ?The announcement says that both ends will receive attention first and then transmission gully, that could be fraught as those projects get held-up. ?It?s good to see a 10 year time-frame, but I?m sceptical of how realistic that is,? says Mrs Stanley. Last week Transport Minister Steven Joyce unveiled plans for a $2.2 billion strategic upgrade of SH1 from Wellington Airport to Levin, the plans will see a four-lane expressway developed in three stages. The new highway will impact positively on the Pautahanui harbour and safety concerns on Greys Road, which has 6000 daily commuters, will also be addressed. ?The inlet is fairly desperate for transmission gully ... Grays road is the current east-west link and taking the work load off there will be great,? says Mrs Stanley. With no waste or rainwater systems in the rural Pautahanui area the impact of subdivisions close to the motorway will need close attention, she says. After 15 years of advocating for transmission gully, Ohariu MP Peter Dunne is rapt with the announcement of a 10 year time-frame. ?I am very, very happy that the working time-frame gives some sense of finality to this issue. ?People in the northern suburbs will have much better access to and from the city and more rapid transport times,? says Mr Dunne. Once complete, the upgraded route from Wellington Airport to Levin is expected to deliver travel-time savings of between 23 and 33 minutes during peak times and between 17 and 23 minutes during the day. The development of the route, identified early this year as a Road of National Significance, will reduce congestion, improve safety and support economic growth both regionally and nationally. ?I?ve been very pleased with the government?s approach from the start, they have looked at the whole picture and seen the best interests for the region,? he says. Transmission gully joins the existing motorway at Linden and opportunities exist for boosting those areas profiles. Mr Dunne says there are positives for by-passed townships and for those that will become busier. ?There are certainly opportunities for revitalizing centres and people further north will get used to a more local route. ?If there is a road toll people will still be using the coastal route, but it will be more of a relaxed trip with fewer trucks,? he says. Not having a similar project to compare transmission gully with was a factor holding it back, but the mooting of the Costal Route worked to speed the process. ?Ironically the costal route being proposed speed things up because it showed the positives of transmission gully,? Mr Dunne says. Areas like Pukerua Bay, Paremata and Plimmerton could become ?boutique settlements? with their own appeal, he says. Paremata Residents? Association vice-president Russell Morrison says the NZTA has given them an assurance that when transmission gully is complete one of the two bridges into Mana will be destroyed. ?When transmission gully is complete there will be a public process ... following that the Transit regional manager at the time made a commitment to the local community to demolish the existing bridge and remove the T2 lanes,? says Mr Morrison. The removal of the old bridges pillars, which obstruct the harbours flushing ability, will be an environmental plus. ?I?m concerned with two things; the use of tolls that would compromise the benefits of it, and the other things is transmission gully being phase two, we don?t know the implications of that yet,? he says. Wellington City Mayor Kerry Prendergast says the projects will tackle the region?s worst bottlenecks first and paves the way for action on transmission gully. ?NZTA is looking at the wider needs of the region but still prioritising crucial projects within Wellington City.? Mayor Prendergast had previously been cool on Transmission Gully, but improvements to the Ngauranga-Aotea stretch of SH1 and at the Basin Reserve are given priority. ?Around 86,000 vehicles per day use the Ngauranga to Aotea stretch of SH1 so it is vital that these improvements go ahead without delay. ?The Wellington Northern Corridor plan puts Transmission Gully within the context of the region?s wider needs,? she says. The WCC favours the building of a new road from Petone to Granada as an east-west link ahead of an upgrade of the existing SH58, which had given rise to fears of urban sprawl where it met SH1 at Pauahatanui. The announcement includes the decision to progress Transmission Gully rather than the Coastal Highway Upgrade as part of the Wellington Northern Corridor. Pukerua Bay Residents? Association president Pat Hanley says ?sense has prevailed?. ?This is what we hoped would happen, it?s great not to be confronted by the costal route. ?It?s going to be a long process that we hope will make a safer community, we will have the opportunity to unite the east and west,? says Mr Hanley. Becoming a destination for cafes and an area where ?people can spend more time? is a real possibility considering the suburbs layout. ?We are still facing 24 thousand people travelling through here every day for the next 10 years, but in Kapiti the roading will be very disruptive; so we are not alone in that respect,? he says. [POSS SIDE BAR] At this stage it is estimated that the construction of the improvements will fall into three distinct phases. This order may be subject to changes depending on how the projects progress: Phase 1: Construct Aotea Quay to Ngauranga and Basin Reserve within Wellington and progress the Peka Peka to Otaki section, followed by the Mackays to Peka Peka section. Phase 2: Linden to Mackays crossing (Transmission Gully). Phase 3: Construct the remaining projects as follows: ? Mount Victoria Tunnel duplication and Ruahine St widening; ? Otaki to Levin; and ? Terrace Tunnel duplication
