Old-fashioned thinking about Manawatū-Hawke's Bay highway proves baffling

Sunday, 31 March 2019

The old State Highway 3 through the Manawatū Gorge had little room for walking and cycling lanes. Transport officials have no such excuse with the proposed new road.

OPINION: If transport officials were previously blind to their folly in not including a walking track and cycleway in plans for the new Manawatū-Hawke's Bay highway, they should now be wise to the error of their old-fashioned thinking.

The first week of a commissioners' hearing into the road's design has largely focused on the issue, and the message to the New Zealand Transport Agency is clear: Building a road for motor vehicles only is a missed opportunity.

Simply saying cycle and walking tracks could be built at some point in the future isn't good enough and it's time transport officials acknowledged this and changed their highway plans.

A look through transport agency literature, with all its talk of 'investing in cycling' and 'connecting New Zealand by bike', gives the impression our Government road builders consider many modes of transport.

* Transport officials accused of ignoring government policies when planning new highway

* Push for cycling path on Manawatū-Hawke's Bay highway grows louder**

So the decision to do the opposite with the Manawatū Gorge road replacement road is baffling, as was the statement by the transport agency's lawyer that changing the highway plans could prove 'over-complicated'.

As Central Economic Development Agency boss Linda Stewart said, in a forceful submission to the hearing on Friday, the plans for the road fly in the face of Government transport and tourism policies.

It's as if such policies are simply pap produced for lip-service purposes.

Understandably, many road users are screaming 'just get on with it'.

For those slogging their way over the Saddle Rd every day, this is not an unreasonable sentiment, especially considering the transport agency sat on its hands and did nothing after the last major closure of the gorge road in 2011-12.

There's also a strong anti-cyclist grouping among New Zealanders, which calls for cyclists to pay road-user charges or registrations, among other illogical ideas.

Of course, most cyclists, and recreational walkers and runners, are also motorists, so are paying for the roads.

Other suggestions, such as 'giving them' the Saddle Rd or Pahīatua Track, are impractical and unsafe, and require the same hassle of building separated walking and cycling paths to make them work.

Now a new highway is to be built, we have one chance to do it right. As well as getting cars and trucks over the ranges, it's time to create an asset for locals and a tourist attraction. Pushing it off into the future will mean it costs more and may always fall victim to other priorities.

Forgetting about non-motorists could also, as foreshadowed by cycling lobbyists last week, see transport officials dragged through court action, causing delays and extra costs.

As Stewart told the hearing, plans for the road lack long-term thinking and miss a massive opportunity for Manawatū and surrounding areas.

'Is [the transport agency] committed to taking advantage of the whole opportunity presented… or are they simply here to move vehicles from one place to another?' Stewart asked.

Right now, it's the latter. Hopefully the commissioners help the transport agency see sense.

Jimmy Ellingham is a Stuff news director in Manawatū