Cross-town motorway not what Wellington needs
ADominion Post article (July 8) asked, ‘‘Do we need tunnels, tolls and flyovers?’’ An accompanying article in the same edition presented a long list of options and possible scenarios for future transport solutions for Wellington.
The Let’s Get Wellington Moving (LGWM) team programme director, Barry Mein, was quoted as saying: ‘‘There’s sort of this simplistic view that people think all we are interested in is the highway.’’
I would like to believe this, but the current Government’s intentions and the budget allocation for Wellington transport infrastructure show that the roads of national significance, including ‘‘four lanes to the planes’’, remain the prime objective.
There are any number of reasons why investment in the cross-town motorway to the airport is not what Wellington wants or needs. Several are to be found in the early findings of the LGWM process. These include its 12 guiding principles, which set the framework for a dynamic and liveable city, and the reported feedback of thousands of Wellingtonians calling for public transport improvements, fewer roads and cars, a more pedestrian-friendly city and protection of the natural environment.
The LGWM progress report of February 2017 contains the following statement: ‘‘Approximately 82,000 people travel to or through the Wellington CBD in the morning peak, with over half arriving from north Wellington and the rest of the region. There is almost an even split between travel by car and other modes of transport. Rail is a popular choice for people coming into the CBD from the north. Around a quarter of people walk to work from the western, eastern and southern suburbs.’’
The report goes on to state that of 7400 people travelling southbound along the quays or the cross-town route, only 25 per cent (1850 people) are travelling beyond the CBD. This means that less than 3 per cent of the morning peak inbound traffic is using these roads as a through route.
On this basis alone, one has to seriously question the wisdom of any major investment in the cross-town route to the airport.
Another factor that LGWM continues to ignore is that congestion along the cross-town route is a peak-hour problem during weekdays, albeit a growing problem on Saturdays and Sundays.
From 7.30pm to 7am this route and other Wellington streets are virtually empty of traffic. Off-peak travel times of 10 minutes to the CBD from Miramar are regularly posted on Cobham Drive. As a regular commuter on this route, my experience is that the same applies on the west-to-east journey home.
Given the likely cost, it is nonsensical to think that a four-lane expressway from The Terrace Tunnel to Cobham Drive would ever be constructed.
Further, the sketches published in the referenced article suggest that no such expressway is being considered. These sketches indicate that Vivian St and Kent Terrace will remain part of the planned route structure. Except for more tunnels and encroachment on the town belt along Ruahine St, there would be little change to the status quo.
LGWM presents an ideal opportunity for a radical rethink of how Wellington plans for its future development. However, the project team and its governing body are going about it the wrong way. Instead of focusing on different transport scenarios and the tradeoffs that will need to be made, LGWM should be asking: What is our vision and what do we want our city to be?
Here is a suggestion. A modern city designed around the needs of people, not cars, where Wellington will:
Be a place all people can enjoy, where our heritage is respected and our children are nurtured with a modern low-carbon transport system.
Be a healthy and safe place where its unique character and beauty is enhanced by a transport system not spoilt by expensive congested roads.
Be a place where people can move about with ease and in safety.
Have a transport system that is less intrusive and enhances a compact walking environment accessible to all.
Have sustainable transport modes which are actively promoted where there is increased walking, cycling and public transport mode share.
Provide living and shopping close to public transport facilities through innovative policy and design.
Have low-cost public transport, which runs frequently and gets users to where they want to go. Wellington must adapt to the impact of climate change. With the right vision to guide it, LGWM can provide Wellington with a world-class transport system. We mustn’t let the project team and its board blow it with a limited vision and business as usual.
Michael Barnett, a retired civil engineer, is a co-founder and convener of FIT (Fair Intelligent Transport) Wellington and a member of Congestion Free Wellington. During the 1990s, he was Wellington City Council liaison engineer on planning for The Terrace Tunnel to the Basin Reserve section of State Highway 1.
LGWM should be asking: What is our vision and what do we want our city to be?