The highway straight eight
Seven mayors and a regional council chairman have created a lobbying force to convince the New Zealand Transport Agency to commit to big roading projects in the wider Manawatu¯ .
While the projects appear to mostly benefit those in the southern part of the region, they say the projects are key to the region’s economic future.
The transport agency said in mid-june the billion-dollar O¯ taki to north of Levin highway project was being ‘‘re-evaluated’’ to align with the Government’s transport policy.
The highway would have replaced the current routes –
State Highway 1 through the centre of Levin and SH57 to the east of the town – with a four-lane road.
Horizons Regional Council chairman Bruce Gordon said he and the mayors from his region – those of Horowhenua, Palmerston North, Tararua, Ruapehu, Rangitı¯kei, Manawatu¯ and Whanganui – had teamed up to lobby the transport agency about the project.
They did the same thing while the agency considered how it was going to replace the Manawatu¯ Gorge route, and felt they got a good result when the agency agreed to scope a regional freight ring road, Gordon said.
That lobbying went as far as the mayors going to Auckland to give the agency’s board a combined presentation on why any Manawatu¯ Gorge replacement route had to link to a regional freight route.
‘‘The regional chiefs are supporting O¯ taki to north of Levin to the same extent,’’ Gordon said.
The Government’s transport policy made safety a big issue, and the route had been described as a ‘‘killing field’’ by a former coroner.
‘‘It’s a dangerous road at night with logging trucks coming through,’’ Gordon said.
‘‘You don’t know what’s going to happen sometimes.’’
But the route was also about economic growth. Levin’s economy was going through a purple patch, with commercial development especially strong.
‘‘I think a lot of that is expectation the road is going to be built, and the capital will be an easy commute in the future,’’ Gordon said.
Horowhenua mayor Michael Feyen said it was encouraging to see the the mayors continuing to lobby as a unit after the Manawatu¯ Gorge result.
‘‘The camaraderie and collaboration between the mayors is huge. If we can keep that up, we stand a better chance of making things happen.’’
Improving connections to Wellington throughout the lower North Island would deliver benefits for the likes of Whanganui, he said.
He was not critical of the Government’s policy statement, but emphasised a need to get heavy traffic out of Levin.
That bypass, combined with tidying up known roading black spots was the minimum amount of work acceptable, he said.