Agency sides with cyclists on pathway

Transport officials have made a U-turn on building a separated cycling and walking path near the Manawatu¯ Gorge road replacement route, having previously said the path was out of scope.

Lobbyists are cheering the news, saying it was always possible, while Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter has also thrown her support behind the path.

But a nationally significant fertiliser trial is still in the road’s way.

The NZ Transport Agency gave its right of reply to public submissions at a notice of requirement hearing held in Palmerston North on Thursday.

The hearing was the first step in getting a new State Highway 3 built to replace the road through Manawatu¯ Gorge, which has been closed since April 2017 due to landslips.

No-one argued against the new highway, running north of the gorge across the Ruahine Range, needing to be built.

But there were many submissions about the lack of a cycling and walking path. The only provision made for non-motorists was a 2-metre-wide strip alongside the road with no barrier between cars and cyclists.

Agency lawyer David Randal told the hearing on Thursday that had since changed.

The agency now wanted to build a separated path between Ashhurst and Woodville, and give funding for additional recreational paths near the Manawatu¯ Gorge scenic reserve.

Although a lot of work was required to figure out the exact route, including talking to property owners and getting consents, a path would be built, Randal said.

Experts said the new highway, with its cycle lane on the side, would be safer than the current options – the Saddle Rd and Pahı¯atua Track – but a separated path would be even better.

Build the Path spokeswoman Rachel Keedwell said the group was pleased with the result.

‘‘[The agency] has finally decided that roads are not just about cars and trucks, but are about providing opportunities for transport choices and can also provide opportunities for our communities.’’

The hundreds of submissions on the project supporting a separated path made it clear the initial plan was flawed, she said.

‘‘Cost, scope and complexity were not the insurmountable obstacles that [the transport agency] made them out to be, because they are now going to make the path happen despite those supposed obstacles.’’

Keedwell hoped Manawatu¯ would be the last community to have to fight for vulnerable road users, in the same way Ka¯ piti did for its expressway. Genter said a separated path would support cycle tourism and also help commuters.

‘‘The community made their voice heard through a huge number of submissions and the Government has listened.’’

‘‘ ... roads are not just about cars and trucks, but are about providing opportunities for transport choices.’’ Build the Path spokeswoman Rachel Keedwell

Plans for a cycling and walking clip-on to the existing bridge across the Manawatu¯ River were being brought forward.

While it was good news for cyclists, it was not great for the Ballantrae farm. The proposed route would run through the farm, home to the only 40-year-old hill country fertiliser trial in New Zealand.

Agresearch wants the road to avoid the farm, as it would change because of traffic levels.

Randal said the current de-facto SH3, the Saddle Rd, already ran through Ballantrae, so the traffic argument did not hold.

Documents showed Agresearch considered selling the farm a few years ago. The possibility of a road through the Ruahine Range had been signalled in the 1970s, and multiple times since, Randal said.