Bid to boost Melling

Newly elected Lower Hutt Mayor Campbell Barry has support for a major push to get the Melling Interchange built.

As part of his 100-day plan, he is calling for an ‘‘integrated transport plan’’ setting out priorities for the city.

He raised the issue during the campaign but opponent mayor Ray Wallace claimed Hutt City Council already had one.

With six new councillors at the table, it seems clear Barry’s call for action will get the green light.

On Monday, Barry asked chief executive Jo Miller to treat the plan as a priority.

He wants to use it to push the case for the Melling Interchange, better public transport and the Cross Valley Link (CVL).

The CVL, taking traffic from Seaview to State Highway 2, has been talked about since the 1950s. A similar lack of progress on the Melling Interchange has been a major cause of frustration in Lower Hutt.

Barry believes it is unrealistic to expect the Government and New Zealand Transport Authority to fund Melling, if the council cannot show why it is a priority.

Better data on traffic flows and the affect of Transmission Gully on SH2 would help the council’s argument that the interchange was a must for the city, he said. It is the same with the CVL, which he favoured as a way of getting traffic off the Petone Esplanade.

The council has $35 million budgeted but, with a potential bill of $100m, it will need government and NZTA support if it is to be built.

Newly elected councillors spoken to, back the call for better planning. Naenae-based Andy Mitchell said a plan would help politicians ‘‘look at the bigger picture’’ and what the priorities should be.

His focus was on how public transport could be improved, although he supported the two major roading projects.

‘‘We have a lot of people sitting in cars, by themselves, complaining about congestion.’’

Councillor Brady Dyer, a Petone resident, was ‘‘definitely’’ in favour of anything that gave the CVL a boost.

An integrated plan would also boost the case for better public transport and the need for the Melling Interchange, he said.

Councillor Deborah Hislop described it as a ‘‘starting point’’ to push for the interchange.

Councillor Rashly Rasheed ‘‘definitely’’ supported anything that would boost Melling.

Second-term councillor Simon Edwards said during the campaign it became clear there were differing views on Melling. An integrated plan would spell out exactly what the council’s transport priorities were.

Barry said that as well as pushing the need for the interchange and CVL, an integrated plan would help define how public transport could be improved. The ultimate goal was to get more cars off the road.