Wellington's plea to transport minister: $2.3b worth of infrastructure needed to fix city

Thursday, 14 June 2018

The Let's Get Wellington Moving team released four options for public consultation in November 2017.

Placing part of State Highway 1 into a trench, duplicating the Mt Victoria and Terrace tunnels, and separating traffic near the Basin Reserve have all been recommended to solve Wellington's traffic congestion woes.

A working group charged with solving the problem revealed its grand transport plans to local councillors this week before the final recommendation made its way to the desk of Transport Minister Phil Twyford.

It is understood the Let's Get Wellington Moving working group – an initiative led by the New Zealand Transport Agency in partnership with the Wellington city and regional councils – is leaning towards the most radical of four options proposed last year.

Congestion clogs Wellington's Karo Drive, otherwise known at the SH1 inner-city bypass. A plan has been put to the transport minister to trench part of this route to ease its regular traffic jams.

That option, which could cost up to $2.3 billion, includes moving SH1 traffic off Vivian St into a tunnel; widening the Terrace and Mt Victoria tunnels and Ruahine St; separating local and highway traffic at the Basin Reserve; and adding a fourth southbound lane to the urban motorway between Aotea Quay and Ngauranga.

**READ MORE:

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* How to get Wellington moving

Cars pile into Wellington's Mt Victoria Tunnel - one of the few routes in and out of the CBD. A second tunnels has been proposed to ease the traffic burden on this route.

* Mayor confident of light rail

* Solving Wellington's congestion

Traffic winds its way around the Basin Reserve cricket ground - one of the worst congestion chokepoints in Wellington.

* Report lays bare transport woes**

A source close to the project said everything proposed in that scenario was 'still in play' as the final recommendation was presented to Twyford. The transport minister did not respond to requests for comment.

The Arras Tunnel relieved some of Wellington's inner-city congestion when it opened in 2014, but much more needs to be done.

It is understood the proposal for the Basin Reserve cricket ground, which sits in the middle of the city's worst traffic chokepoint, would involve Sussex St running over top of a trenched SH1 route towards the Mt Victoria Tunnel.

Not all of the highway would be trenched, but most of the intersections with through-streets would be taken out. Streets that run through the bypass route now include Willis St, Victoria St, Cuba St and Taranaki St.

Car make their way along Wellington's Kent Terrace towards an unavoidable clash with more traffic at the Basin Reserve.

The scenario also proposed to replace two of the six traffic lanes on the waterfront quays with cycle lanes, establish cycle lanes on a two-way Vivian St, and give more priority to pedestrians along Willis St, Victoria St, Cuba St and Vivian St.

A cycle lane through Mt Victoria to the Cobham Drive cycleway was also proposed.

A bus fights its way through rush hour traffic along Wellington's Adelaide Rd.

A mass transit public transport system was recommended from Wellington Railway Station to Wellington Regional Hospital and the airport, via the suburb of Kilbirnie.

Light rail has not been proposed as part of the recommended option, leaving the option of a rapid bus route in the mix.

A long line of cars forms along Adelaide Rd, heading towards the Basin Reserve.

The group has previously suggested creating a rapid bus route through central Wellington to the airport and Kilbirnie, with the capacity for it to be converted into light rail later.

While all of these projects have been recommended, the sequencing of their construction was still to be determined. It was also possible some of the projects could be reviewed as the success of others played out.

The proposal was expected to take several weeks to be assessed by Cabinet, and a public announcement was expected in August.

Major roading projects were likely to be several years away from construction, but smaller improvements such as priority for buses at some traffic lights and better pedestrian and cycling facilities in the central city were likely to be implemented much sooner.

Buses could also be equipped with technology allowing them to anticipate traffic lights.

SUPPORT FOR BETTER PUBLIC TRANSPORT

Meanwhile, results of a Let's Get Wellington Moving survey released on Thursday revealed 63 per cent of 1334 Wellington residents supported light rail from the railway station to the airport via Newtown. Thirteen per cent opposed it.

There was also support for a rapid bus system on major routes to and from the central city (62 per cent), an extra Mt Victoria tunnel with vehicle, cycling and walking lanes (62 per cent), and dedicated public transport lanes on the Golden Mile (57 per cent).

There was 56 per cent support for a tunnel under the suburb of Te Aro for SH1 traffic, and 49 per cent support for a second Terrace Tunnel, and fewer waterfront vehicle lanes.

Programme director Barry Mein said the feedback would continue to be used to help develop plans.

'This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for the Wellington region and it's important we get things right,' he said.

'We are taking some time to define and agree the recommended programme with our partner organisations, and we are doing further work on a number of the programme's elements.'

Wellington Mayor Justin Lester said more than two-thirds of survey respondents complained of slow vehicle or bus trips in the city, too many cars on the road, or pedestrian and cycling safety.

'The single biggest thing they want us to tackle is improving public transport, and many are telling us that without having to be asked.'

Fair and Intelligent Transport (Fit) Wellington spokesman John Rankin said it made sense for Wellington to adopt a light rail route through the central city, but a rapid bus route to service other suburbs.

'On the main spine, according to the calculations we've done, light rail would be at capacity on the day it opened, if it opened tomorrow.'

Save the Basin spokesman Tim Jones said the group remained sceptical of the plans near the cricket ground, and feared a variant of the controversial flyover proposal could still resurface.

'Until Save the Basin is presented with clear, detailed design proposals, we cannot and will not endorse any proposal that is not at-grade [current road level] or that may threaten the Basin Reserve.'