Extra 12,000 vehicles to hit State Highway 2 between Lower Hutt and Wellington

Wednesday, 8 May 2019

Hutt Valley commuters are crying out for an interchange on State Highway 2 at Melling to relieve traffic congestion.

If you think State Highway 2 traffic is bad now, it's only going to get worse.

An extra 12,000 cars a day are expected to hit the highway between Lower Hutt and Wellington within the next two decades.

The latest projections from the New Zealand Transport Agency come as politicians debate the decision to defer two major Hutt Valley roading projects until after 2028.

An interchange on State Highway at Melling won't be considered until at least 2029, despite projections that by 2036 an extra 12,000 vehicles will use the road between Lower Hutt and Wellington.

Those projects are an interchange on SH2 at Melling and a highway between Petone and Grenada.

**READ MORE:

Transport Minister Phil Twyford says other funding pressures need to be taken into account. (File photo)

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An artist's impression of the proposed Petone-Grenada highway, which won't be considered for funding until 2028. (File photo)

* NZTA criticised over Melling snub**

The interchange would remove the traffic light-controlled intersection at Melling, while the highway would connect Lower Hutt and northern Wellington.

Hutt South MP Chris Bishop was excluded from a meeting to discuss the projects.

But as the projects are shelved because of a lack of funding, NZTA figures show there will be 81,000 vehicles on SH2 every day between Petone and Ngauranga Gorge by 2036, an increase of 17.4 per cent compared with 2016.

Between Petone and Melling, there will be 44,000 vehicles on the road each day, a 6000-vehicle (or 15.8 per cent) increase from 2016.

Hutt South-based Labour List MP Ginny Andersen is confident progress can be made on the projects. (File photo)

The proposed Melling interchange, which would include a new bridge over the Hutt River, is part of Lower Hutt's RiverLink project which also includes increasing flood protection and revamping the central city.

Without the new bridge, flood-protection plans would need to be scaled back.

Road Transport Forum chief executive Nick Leggett says the region is in limbo, with no definitive plans on either project. (File photo)

Officials from NZTA, Hutt City Council, Greater Wellington Regional Council and Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, along with Rimutaka MP Chris Hipkins, on Tuesday sat down with Transport Minister Phil Twyford to discuss the decisions.

Twyford would not confirm what was agreed to, but said the meeting had been productive.

'The transport agency has stressed that they have been through the project with a fine-tooth comb, and it stacks up, particularly on resilience and flood protection.

'However, other funding pressures nationwide must be taken into account.'

Hutt South National MP Chris Bishop, who has started a petition calling for the interchange to be built urgently, was excluded from the meeting.

'Unfortunately, despite being told I would be invited as the local MP, the government has excluded me from the meeting.

'[It's] very disappointing, but I will keep fighting hard for the Hutt.'

Hutt South-based Labour List MP Ginny Andersen, who was at the meeting, said she was confident progress could be made on the projects.

She also defended Bishop's exclusion from the meeting.

'I believe the best way to get outcomes for the Hutt is to work together. Playing politics on big issues like this gets us nowhere.'

But Bishop said the real issue was a lack of funding, and the meeting would have little impact.

'I want the community to really stand up and really send NZTA and the Government the message that we need [a] Melling [interchange] now, rather than in another decade.'

Lower Hutt Mayor Ray Wallace said Twyford had asked NZTA 'to urgently get back around the table' to consider consenting and funding for the interchange.

Meanwhile, Road Transport Forum chief executive Nick Leggett said it was staggering there was no definitive plan for the Petone-to-Grenada highway, which won't be considered for funding until 2028.

'We need to know what the strategic transport plans are for the Wellington region and what the timeframe is around rolling out those plans.

'If there is no strategic plan and no timeframe, then that is of great concern.'

The Hutt Valley was an area with 140,000 people but a '1960s-era' roading network, Leggett said.

Automobile Association (AA) Wellington District chair Geordie Cassin said traffic congestion would be exacerbated when the Transmission Gully motorway north of Wellington opened next year.

That's because the motorway would connect with SH58, which is expected to lead to more people using that road to get onto SH2.

'The people stuck in gridlock on SH2 and Ngauranga Gorge … don't want to hear that it's uncertain when work on a new plan [for the highway] can even begin.'