‘Historic’ chance for waterfront
A Government plan moving away from building more highways to focus on public transport and road safety is an ‘‘historic opportunity’’ for Nelson’s waterfront, councillors say.
Nelson city councillors Matt Lawrey, Brian McGurk and Luke Acland say the plan should give the green light to develop Rocks Rd as a pedestrian and cycle-friendly route.
The Government’s draft policy statement on land transport has four key pillars: safety, access, environment, and value for money.
Investment in safe cycling and walking as forms of transport are a priority, with $1.1 billion proposed for such initiatives.
Lawrey, McGurk and Acland said the time was right to make a walkway-cycleway along Wakefield Quay and Rocks Rd ‘‘an absolute priority.’’ They said a project like the walkway-cycleway would solve multiple problems, and was therefore an excellent candidate for government funding.
‘‘There is now a real opportunity . . . to get the much talked about Rocks Road walking and cycling project underway, so we finally get a safe and accessible walking and cycling route between Tahunanui and Wakefield Quay,’’ McGurk said.
The project has been floated for years, but for various reasons has never got off the ground. One barrier has been uncertainty around the the controversial Southern Link arterial route that would provide an alternative highway to the city and the port.
Nelson’s National MP Nick Smith has strongly championed the route, and before last year’s election said a National Government would commit up to $135 million to the project.
However, the three councillors said motorway projects were ‘‘in no way, shape or form’’ a priority in the new transport plan.
Lawrey said there were ‘‘no losers’’ if the government invested in the cycle and walkway, and it should be considered separately from motorway projects.
‘‘If we keep waiting for the [Southern] link to get built, the waterfront may never get sorted,’’ he said.
‘‘The Nelson waterfront walkway-cycleway and the Draft Government Policy Statement line up so beautifully it would be a tragedy of historic proportions if the city didn’t seize the opportunity with both hands.’’
The three councillors said people who cycled or walked would be safer in a dedicated walkway cycleway than on the road, and it would reduce adverse effects on the climate and on public health, they said.
Acland said it was up to the council to show Nelson wanted the waterfront walk and cycle-way. Since the road was a state highway, the funding would come primarily from central government, but Acland said the council must let the government know.
‘‘NZTA will only fund the waterfront if it’s a priority for council. If Nelson doesn’t clearly signal that this is something we want, we will miss out,’’ he said.
But Smith said the plan amounted to ‘‘highway robbery’’ for the Nelson-Tasman region.
He said increases in petrol tax would increase the Government’s revenue from Nelson-Tasman road users by $10 million, but the government had ‘‘ no intention’’ of putting ‘‘even a fraction of that’’ back into the region.
‘‘The budget for state highways is to be reduced . . . meaning any improvements on State Highway 6 or 60 have negligible chance of success,’’ Smith said.
He said without investing in highway upgrades, car accidents and congestion in Nelson would get worse.
‘‘Nelsonians have every right to be angry that the new Government is socking them with extra taxes and at the same time ignoring our increasing transport problems.’’
However, Labour’s Nelson candidate last year Rachel Boyack said the new policy would see big funding increases for road safety and maintenance. ‘‘It is quite frankly bizarre for Nick Smith to call for safety improvements to State Highway 60 and then attack the government for increasing funding for road safety to do exactly that.’’