Fears regions getting forgotten

New Zealand’s two biggest political parties have announced ambitious plans to sort out Auckland’s traffic woes, but there are fears regions such as Manawatu will be forgotten amid the clamour for votes.

Last month, the Government laid out its plans for building an alternative route to the Manawatu Gorge, but a firm decision is not expected until Christmas and it would be another three years before the road opens. Labour promised to get on to it faster, but avoided providing a timeline, and there has been criticism of the Government’s lack of action to create a more resilient roading network since the gorge’s last big closure in 2011/12.

Meanwhile, as the general election approaches, both National and Labour have pledged billions of dollars for Auckland – a theme noticed by NZ First, which has been campaigning in the regions.

Mainfreight contractor Marsh Graham is one voter in the provinces who is worried about the regions getting forgotten.

With the gorge road now closed indefinitely, Graham knows the impacts all too well.

For the past 10 years, he has been delivering goods to businesses in Dannevirke daily or twice-daily from Palmerston North. It’s a run he hopes to continue until he retires in seven years as the people are kind and the drive is usually enjoyable.

But increased diesel costs of $300 a month and more wear and tear on his truck would take their toll if the gorge was closed for years to come, Graham said.

When State Highway 3 through the gorge was closed for 14 months in 2011/12, Graham was more than $20,000 out of pocket. But he kept the Dannevirke run in the hopes the Government would fix the Saddle Rd and start work on an alternative route.

Fast-forward five years and the Saddle Rd is laden with potholes, almost too narrow to keep within the median strips, and the Government is only just picking out the best permanent alternative to SH3 on paper.

He suspects that, after the election, Manawatu will slip down the list of priorities.

But Palmerston North MP Iain Lees-galloway said he would not let Labour forget about fixing the region’s roading troubles.

‘‘I will not let it fall off my radar. I will move heaven and Earth to get it done.’’

National’s Palmerston North candidate Adrienne Pierce said if Transport Minister Simon Bridges said there would be an alternative route built within three years, then that’s what would happen.

Anything happening in Auckland should not delay that, she said. Plans were under way to choose a new route, but the process took time.

Green Party candidate for Palmerston North Thomas Nash said Auckland’s neglected public transport needed to be fixed, but not at the expense of a good solution in Manawatu.

A passenger train through the gorge would be a good, short-term solution, Nash said.

NZ First MP and city candidate Darroch Ball couldn’t be reached for comment, but leader Winston Peters has said the regions are being neglected.