Submissions on Mt Messenger road sought
After working to improve the Mt Messenger route his whole life, Barry Marsh is hoping he’ll see the proposed bypass finished before he dies.
Which is why Marsh, 82, is trying to keep the project moving by asking the Taranaki community to fill in a public submission - supporting the bypass - for resource consent.
The Mt Messenger bypass, a $200 million road to be built east of the existing State Highway 3 route, is set to get started by the end of the year and be finished by 2021 according to the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) website.
The website says a detailed design for the new route is progressing while applications for resource contents and a Notice of Requirement have been lodged with the New Plymouth District Council or Taranaki Regional Council.
Marsh remembers travelling over Mt Messenger to Mo¯ kau with his grandfather in the 1940s.
‘‘The road there was metal with grass growing in the middle.’’
He said the windiness of the road hadn’t changed much since back then, and he never thought he’d see it change despite his involvement.
In 1997 Marsh set up a petition that was signed by 17,500 people and sent to government to let them know the ‘‘appalling condition’’ the section of State Highway 3 was in.
In 2006 Marsh helped form a working party for the section of State Highway 3 north of New Plymouth. He said this had some success in easing bends in the road, resurfacing pavement and getting passing lanes.
Now he’s ‘‘determined to live to see it complete’’.
An NZTA spokesperson said NZTA and its Mt Messenger Alliance partners had been in Taranaki offering information on the proposed bypass and giving the community the opportunity to fill in a public submission.
Road Transport Association Taranaki area executive Tom Cloke is also working to get more public submissions in.
‘‘We’re trying to get as many positives as possible,’’ Cloke said. ‘‘We’ve been fighting for years and years - we don’t want to lose it when we’re so close.’’
Cloke said where the bypass was going was ‘‘set in concrete’’, and it was unlikely to come to a complete halt now but ‘‘could certainly be stalled’’.
The New Plymouth District Council customer and regulatory solutions manager Katrina Brunton said an independent commissioner will make the final decision.
There is an information stall on Friday in Centre City, New Plymouth, from 12-3pm and submissions close on February 27. The forms can be emailed to applications@npdc.govt.nz or a written submission can be sent to Planning Lead, New Plymouth District Council at Liardet Street, Private Bag 2025, New Plymouth 4342.