Transport committee calls for Rocks Rd priority
Work to improve Rocks Rd is a project of regional significance, the Joint Nelson Tasman Regional Transport Committee believes.
At a meeting on Wednesday, the committee agreed to the content of its submission on the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport, including calling for the project to be included in list of priorities.
It comes as the updated draft 2024 policy statement, which sets national roading priorities for 10 years, was released by the coalition government at the start of March.
In August the then Labour Government’s draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS) had a list of 14 critical national routes to be prioritised, including the Hope Bypass and upgrading the Rocks Rd stretch of State Highway 6 to include a widened walking and cycling boulevard.
But the new draft brought back National’s roads of national significance programme - and while the Hope Bypass made the cut, Rocks Rd was gone.
At the meeting, the committee, which is made up of councillors from both Nelson City and Tasman District councils, agreed to submit on the proposal, including a “request that the SH6 Rocks Road resilience, walking and cycling project be included as a project of priority with regional significance”.
It suggested adding the project to a schedule of projects in the policy statement which identifies national and regional projects.
The brief debate came after the committee had heard submissions on the Draft Nelson-Tasman Regional Land Transport Plan and Public Transport Plan, where Rocks Rd was also a popular topic.
The regional plan ranks both the Hope Bypass and Rocks Rd as priority one projects.
Nelsust convenor Peter Olorenshaw urged the committee to “stay strong” and keep Rocks Rd equal with the bypass.
The GPS was a guide, not a directive and the GPS was “incredibly naive” if it believed building roads would ease congestion, he said.
“Stay the course and keep the Rocks Rd project as priority one.”
Tāhunanui Business and Citizens Association chair Jacinda Stevenson said they understood why the project was removed from the major projects list, given the “exorbitant price tag”, but they wanted a “more fiscally and environmentally prudent approach”.
Their main concern was safety for road users, she said.
The group called for improved seating and sea access, adding pedestrian refuges, adjusting car parking, improved safety for mobility scooters, and merging on-road cycle paths with the footpaths at pinch points.
New Zealand Automobile Association Nelson district councillors Allan Kneale and Gary Stocker told the committee its members were concerned that a southern arterial route was missing from regional transport plans, having been “shelved for political reasons”.
“The southern arterial is a key factor in ensuring that we have a safe, efficient and cost-effective route from the north right through.
“We’re not supportive of spending significant funds on the waterfront route,” Stocker said.