Petition calls for rethink on expressway

The National Party is calling on the Government to make the Horowhenua expressway a four-lane road again, and to bring forward its construction.

National’s transport spokesman, Chris Bishop, launched a petition yesterday to reverse Labour’s decision to restrict the expressway between O¯ taki and Levin to two lanes, instead of four like the Ka¯ piti Expressway.

The New Zealand Transport Agency announced funding to confirm the route of the highway earlier this year. A 300-metre-wide corridor for the road was made public in December, but no progress has been made to narrow the area since.

Bishop said Transport Minister Phil Twyford ‘‘barely had his feet under the desk’’ before he scrapped the four-lane Horowhenua expressway.

‘‘Twyford’s decision is a gut-punch to the local people who are crying out for this project, as well as the thousands of Kiwis who want a safe and efficient State Highway 1,’’ he said.

‘‘The safety record between Otaki ¯ and Levin is unacceptable, which is why the former National Government included a new four-lane highway as a road of national significance.’’

Bishop said Labour had ‘‘whittled’’ the project back to a two-lane road and wouldn’t consider funding its construction for another 10 years.

Horowhenua couldn’t afford to spend another decade in limbo, Bishop said, which was why he, National’s O¯ taki candidate Tim Costley and O¯ taki MP Nathan Guy were calling on the community to change the Government’s mind.