National Party is all in for roads, not rail
Dealing with the grieving and acceptance process of being bundled off the government benches must feel all the more galling when your party continues to command top dog status in the political polls.
But that certainly hasn’t stopped the new Opposition from hitting the ground running, rolling out a wave of grassroots campaigns to defend their vision for New Zealand. You may have noticed that National is barnstorming the regions with its tactical campaign to champion for the continuation of its Roads of National Significance programme.
Party strategists know that this policy enjoys broad public support, it chimes with middle-ofthe-road sensibilities and transcends political persuasions – aside from the Greens.
That’s why the next phase of proposed regional highway projects was deliberately unveiled and dangled as inter-constituency catnip in the heart of last year’s campaign.
Last month, National rebooted its roading package, furnishing them with region-specific petitions, in a concerted bid to look like a community-engaged Opposition as it turns the screws on the government. It may reek of attention-seeking opportunism, but the Beehive is wary of this potential powder-keg.
That is why the Government has not rushed to consign the touted roading projects in the trash can. The official line is ‘‘they are under review.’’ But for how long and to what end?
In Canterbury, I’m passionately in favour of National’s grand designs to four lane State Highway 1, between Christchurch and Ashburton. It would improve travel times, enhance road safety and support regional growth.
Just look at the difference the latest batch of major roading projects has made to our regional network. The Western Belfast Bypass, the Gateway Arches overpass and ongoing improvements to the Christchurch Northern Motorway have dramatically slashed commuter congestion.
A third southbound lane, near the Waimakariri Bridge, will soon be constructed, primarily designed for high occupancy vehicles in the morning peak. The Northern Corridor projects are projected to remove 50 per cent of cars from the Main North Road by 2020.
National has also launched a petition to support its call for the Northern Motorway to be extended as far as Pegasus, with a Woodend bypass. The New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) has confirmed to me that any plans to build a bypass of Woodend ‘‘are around ten years away’’, without government intervention.
Should Waimakariri commuters really have to wait that long?
Meanwhile, Stage Two of the Southern Motorway is charging ahead, which will reach Rolleston by 2020. But beyond that, the NZTA confirms little else is planned, south to Ashburton. There aren’t even anymore passing lanes between Christchurch and Ashburton, on the books, over the next decade.
National’s MP for Rangitata, Andrew Falloon, is heartened at the fast uptake of signatures to his petition, which will remain circulating for several months. He argues that ‘‘many people won’t travel from Ashburton through to Christchurch because they’re too nervous about the number of trucks or drivers new to our roads.’’
The highway has certainly devolved into an over-loaded cluster of drivers doing variable, erratic speeds. Falloon tells me that National’s four-laning proposal would include new bridges across the Rakaia and Selwyn Rivers, to improve network resilience, and the full project has been costed internally at around $1 billion.
He’s adamant that construction could commence within 24 months, if the government was supportive, given the minimal need for land acquisition.
So does Transport Minister Phil Twyford feel it has merit? He’s refusing to say, responding to me that ‘‘the NZTA make all operational decisions at arm’s length on the priority and timing of projects, so they’re best placed to answer whether this proposal will be considered.’’ What a cop out, Minister. There was certainly nothing ‘‘arm’s length’’ about Labour’s election pledge on commuter rail for Christchurch, ‘‘starting with Rolleston to the CBD.’’ Interestingly, he now won’t confirm whether that election promise will be honoured.
‘‘We’re still working our way through our policy and funding commitments.’’
Twyford will soon meet the Christchurch Mayor to discuss transport priorities, but ‘‘multimodal public transport’’ is his mantra.
Cast your mind ahead to 2020, when Stage Two of the Southern Motorway opens. Will there really be a self-sustaining public appetite for commuter rail from Rolleston? Seriously?
Without a dramatic population explosion, it looks destined to be a colossal feel-good folly.