Motueka bypass route needed
A proposed route for the Motueka bypass should be formalised to allow for future planning, the Motueka Community Board says.
The community board has recommended that a designated route be put into the Tasman District Council’s 2018-2028 long term plan.
It wants Queen Victoria St, from the intersection of Wildman Rd and Hursthouse St to the Pah St intersection designated as a future bypass route of Motueka for State Highway 60 by the council and the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA).
In a report to the August 15 community meeting, Motueka Ward councillor David Ogilvie said that the recommendation was just a ‘‘baby step’’ in the process, given the amount of investigation and consultation that would be involved.
‘‘That certainly doesn’t mean we’re going to do a bypass straight away – it’s just the initial stage of what will probably be a long term process,’’ he said.
‘‘All I have proposed is that there be a designation just so when it comes to rezoning residential land people know that is designated as a bypass route.’’
Ogilvie and community board member Barry Dowler attended a meeting in July held by NZTA, where discussions about the future of SH60 looking at three sections between Richmond’s Three Brothers Corner and Collingwood.
A fourth sub-section was also suggested between the High St roundabout at Wharf Rd and the Riwaka-Kaiteriteri Rd intersection.
This stretch of road includes ’’chokepoints’’ along High street and the Motueka River bridge.
The proposed resolution did not prescribe where SH60 would link with the designated street.
Ogilvie said finishing at the end of Queen Victoria St allowed the opportunity for any bypass to be extended as far as the existing bridge, which he said would need to be widened.
A second possibility would take a straight line across the Motueka River to River Rd.
This would involve the building of a new bridge.
In terms of distance, it was just over 2km from the end of Queen Victoria St to the Motueka River bridge, while the River Rd option would cover around 1.5km.
Ogilvie was aware of some Parker St residents concerns that any potential bypass may run near their properties.
However, he said a more likely outcome would be to put a link road further north, alongside the old river stopbank.
The River Rd option would mean bypassing the Motueka River Bridge, but Ogilvie said any decision-making would ultimately come down to cost, while NZTA would need to do a cost and benefit study to figure out the best longterm solution.
The need for a bypass around Motueka to help traffic flow and to improve the safety of drivers and pedestrians has been discussed since the 1990s, and a number of reports on the topic have been commissioned.
At the July meeting attended by Ogilvie and Dowler NZTA’s Andrew James explained that despite the thoroughness of a 2010 study of traffic in and around Motueka, there were no formal resolutions made to address the issues.
A 2016 study confirmed that poorly designed pedestrian crossing infrastructure on High St was resulting in crashes and that key intersections had the potential for design and layout improvements to improve journey time reliability and safety for all road users.
An NZTA spokeswoman said a bypass route would be needed in future, it was not seen as a short term priority.