Southern link talks back on table again
Transit lanes, a fourlane Rocks Rd, and the renamed southern link are all on the table for Nelson once again, but not until 2035.
The Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) engagement document will go to the public for feedback, despite criticisms on the wording of questions and the lack of time for Nelson City councillors to process and critique the document.
The engagement is not an official consultation, but a monthlong process to gather information and preferences from the community about three long-term choices: a priority lanes package, a coastal corridor widening package, and an ‘‘inland route’’ package.
The document was highly critiqued by councillors, and labelled misleading by councillor Matt Lawrey for the presentation of the inland route package, formerly known as the southern link.
‘‘I don’t think that part of the document is clear, I think the image that shows St Vincent St as it exists today as opposed to what the southern link will actually look like is misleading, I think renaming the southern link to the inland route is misleading and because of that I can’t accept this,’’ he said.
Councillors also criticised the questions proposed for potentially biasing the feedback.
Councillor Kate Fulton noted that questions asking the public which packages best respond to sea-level rise or to carbon emissions would likely only elicit responses based on personal beliefs of the respondents.
‘‘I can’t even answer some of these questions, and I’ve been studying climate change for 20 to 30 years,’’ she said.
‘‘That’s information that I would expect experts to provide ... and then you ask questions about our priorities.
‘‘People are just going to choose their preferred option and then tick those answers all the way down’’.
Despite the hourslong questioning and debate session, the only councillor to vote against receiving the document was Lawrey.
Speaking in favour of receiving the document, councillor Rohan O’Neill-Stevens said he ‘‘shared the concerns’’ put forward, but it was important to accept the document in order to maintain momentum on transport solutions for the city.
‘‘I do think this consultation document is not perfect, it’s not what I would put out, and I don’t think it’s just tweaks here and there, I think it’s fundamental issues that I think will skew the feedback NZTA gets out of the community,’’ he said.
‘‘[This] is a decision-point about whether or not we want to work with NZTA to get something done, and I would like that to happen very much, and I think most people would.
The engagement process will run from today until July 27.
The consultation document will be available online and in libraries.
The document outlines in more detail the three long-term options: priority lanes on Waimea and Rocks roads costed at $220 million to $250 million, widening Rocks Rd to four lanes costed at $500m to $540m, and an inland route connecting the Annesbrook roundabout to St Vincent St costed at $190m to $220m, with a potential extra $30m to $40m for an underpass at the intersection of Toi Toi and St Vincent streets.
NZTA representatives said the three options were ‘‘intentionally different: to elicit the widest possible response, but based on feedback it was possible the final result would be an amalgamation of two or even all three options.