‘Death trap’ bridge plans abandoned
Controversial plans to narrow a bridge to build a cycleway have been abandoned in favour of clipon lanes.
Described as a ‘‘death trap’’ by a local councillor, the plan would have seen the already constricted Waikanae bridge on State Highway 1 become narrower still.
Ka¯piti Coast councillor Michael Scott had opposed the plan after it was revealed by the New Zealand Transport Agency in a confidential briefing to elected council staff last year.
‘‘If this goes through, I’ll be calling for NZTA resignations after the first death or injury accident,’’ he said at the time.
The changes are part of the revocation process, which will see about 13.5 kilometres of SH1 on the Ka¯piti Coast become a local road managed by the district council. That section of road has been rendered obsolete as a highway by the Ka¯piti expressway, which opened in early 2017.
About $22 million will be spent on the revocation project, part of which would see a cycleway along most of the route.
In Waikanae, the planned route past the SH1 shops was halted after a protest and is being revised, but the two-lane bridge will form part of the course.
Scott said the confirmed clipon paths – which would make the bridge wider – was a win for the community and common sense.
‘‘This will mean if you want to cycle there you’ll be a couple of metres away from the trucks rather than having to duck under their wing mirrors as they go past.’’
The clip-on would cost about $1 million and be shared between NZTA and the Ka¯ piti Coast District Council: the council’s share would likely come out of the budget for the revocation project.
‘‘It’s a great win and a great solution, the only issue is why we had to go through the lunatic options before getting to the sensible one.’’
Last year, Ka¯piti Mayor K Gurunathan said the plan to abandon the clip-ons in favour of narrowing the bridge looked like a ‘‘cost-cutting exercise’’ and he urged a rethink.
NZTA spokesman Chris Hunt said the agency met with the council on Wednesday to confirm the clip-on lanes would be installed.