Transport project moves focus to north
Changes to Johnsonville’s town centre and Ngāūranga Gorge are the latest Let’s Get Wellington Moving project out for consultation.
This is one of the programme’s first moves away from the central suburbs of Wellington – where the $7.4 billion light rail proposal and Cobham Drive pedestrian crossing have been a focus.
The new options proposed for Johnsonville include raised pedestrian crossings, a cycleway through the town centre and a bus lane through Ngāūranga Gorge. The shared path through the gorge would also be widened.
This group of changes is scheduled to be completed by 2026 along with other changes to make Wellington city streets more ‘‘people-friendly’’, the consultation documents say.
The improvements are focused on people who walk, cycle, ride scooters, or take the bus from Johnsonville to Wellington through the gorge. According to the consultation documents the plan will make journeys ‘‘safer and more efficient’’ and ‘‘easy to navigate without a car’’.
There are two options for the proposed cycleway on Moorefield Rd – one is protected by a concrete kerb, while the other is next to the existing traffic lanes. On Johnsonville Rd, only one cycleway option is out for consultation, an on-road painted cycleway.
Cycle Wellington advocate Patrick Mor
gan said the changes would encourage more people to cycle to the city from the northern suburbs of Wellington.
At a time when fuel prices were rising and public transport wasn’t always reliable, it was good for people to have more choices about transport, he said.
‘‘The northern suburbs should not miss
out on protected cycleways. The point is to increase the number of people going through.’’
However, it was unacceptable to see a painted cycleway option put forward as an option – ‘‘paint is not protection,’’ Morgan said. Physically separated cycleways would better meet LGWM’s aims of increasing safety and comfort.
The Takapū/Northern ward councillors encouraged Johnsonville residents to give their feedback on the plan. John Apanowicz said all three of them would be working with local businesses and residents to ensure the consultation process was publicised.
It was hard to imagine how a bus lane down the gorge would look with the onramps and off-ramps, said Apanowicz. ‘‘I would like to see the bus transport route improved and more consistent bus schedules. I’m also not in favour of removing the car parks in front of some of the businesses.’’
Car parks would need to be removed for the protected cycleway on Moorefield Rd.
Tony Randle was concerned about the ‘‘big changes’’ in the proposal. ‘‘As a local resident I am concerned at the focus on cycling when we already have cycleways
that haven’t any serious safety issues.’’
He was also worried the bus lane through the gorge would ‘‘make the traffic bottleneck much worse for most commuters’’.
Ben McNulty said he would like to see the plan include more options for preventing bus congestion on Broderick Rd, including the land which the Johnsonville shopping centre sits on.