Waipapa junction upgrade to seek public feedback
The redesign of the controversial Waipapa Rd intersection with State Highway 10 will be discussed at public meetings in late May or June.
Far North District Council Bay of Islands Whangaroa councillor Ann Court says a preferred option to redevelop roading through Waipapa will seek community feedback before a report is finalised later this year.
‘‘The best case scenario is construction will begin from July 2018,’’ Court says.
‘‘The wheels would have to fall off catastrophically [for it not to go ahead].’’
The joint project with the council and the New Zealand Transport Authority is likely to develop an extra road, or ‘corridor’ from State Highway 10 and Loop Rd, Waipapa Loop Rd to Klinac Lane and Kaihikatearoa Rd.
The details of the public meetings have yet to be released.
Kerikeri resident Paul Godden says the decision making should be left to the experts.
‘‘They are spending money on public opinion. I don’t think there should be a public process - there should be an opportunity to say it needs to be fixed, but it should be fixed by experts not the public.
‘‘We don’t want a [public] vote for traffic lights for example and find it’s perhaps not the right outcome - just implemented because the public said.’’
Social media comments in regards to the intersection, say ‘‘it’s about time’’ something was done, that the 70kmh speed limit should have already been reduced, and that a roundabout would be a simple solution.
Court says she has been working on the project since 1989 before she was an elected representative for the council.
‘‘Until now there had been no evidence to suggest that it was dangerous, but everyone drives through there so slowly because they know that it is dangerous.’’
Delays including failure to secure the land required, resource consents and budgets not aligning could push the project back further, Court says. An NZTA spokesperson says funding for construction is indicated as part of the National Land Transport Programme, which is subject to funding approval.
A decision will be made around funding for the intersection redevelopment in the 2017/18 financial year.
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