1960s thinking

Your article on the four proposals for improving traffic flow in Wellington (Let’s get Welly moving, Nov 16) shows that the New Zealand Transport Agency is still using 1960s thinking.

As any one of us who has travelled into Wellington regularly knows, all the road improvements so far have resulted in more cars and moving the traffic jam somewhere else.

One comment that stands out was "there will be a need for a mass transit system in 10 years". Now for that to happen we need to start building it now. The only sane proposition is for a light rail system from the railway station out through the suburbs. Rapid bus systems take up much more room as they have to move over the roads to pass other vehicles.

If planned correctly the lines could be built in stages, with points and crossings to allow for future extensions. So if we look at the first priority, railway station to airport, then one construction crew starts building from the station along Lambton Quay; at the same time another crew builds along Oxford and Cambridge Terraces whilst crews three and four build along Cobham Drive and from the airport terminus towards Cobham Drive. Doing this would speed construction whilst minimising traffic disruption.

All we need is some vision and a will to build for the future instead of following past mistakes.

ROBERT BRYAN Upper Hutt (abridged)