By Dick Jessup – Coastal Highway Group
The New Zealand Transport Agency is proposing a cheap option for developing the top end of the Wellington Northern Corridor. Staged upgrades of existing roads between Ōtaki and Levin will save the Government more than $300 million and offer better value than a new expressway.
The Transport Agency say that progressively upgrading SH1 at the top end of the Northern Corridor “will provide early improvement to address current problems while also providing for the staged development of a higher standard motorway as demand increases over time”.
Exactly the same advantages can be obtained if the same approach is taken further south and the Agency should now turn its attention to examining an alternative to the Transmission Gully Motorway. A programme of staged upgrades of the existing highway has never been fully investigated but would save many hundreds of millions of dollars and deliver much better value than a monstrous new motorway through very difficult terrain.
A starting point would be a bypass at Pukerua Bay which would contribute to overcoming both safety and congestion problems as well as being welcomed by the community which is currently severed by the main highway. An upgrade of the alignment and intersections at Paekākāariki should also be a priority.
The main road at Pukerua Bay and Paekākāariki is the only section of SH1 which is still much as it was when built in the 1930’s. It is inadequate and dangerous. Refocusing on staged upgrades of SH1 would bring an end to this grossly unsatisfactory situation. Other developments can follow over time and result in a safe and reliable link between Kāpiti and Wellington at an affordable cost.
