Basin options: how about NO flyover?
Westbound traffic will enter a tunnel at Sussex Street and a landscaped overbridge provides access for pedestrians and cyclists into the Basin Reserve. Dedicated public transport lanes occupy the central north/south lanes. A green space in the south-east corner connects Government House and the Basin Reserve and provides driveway access to schools and Government House from Adelaide Road. A cycle pedestrian route (Dufferin Street South) completes the historic Basin geometry.
Accusations of bribery and incompetence are being levelled at the New Zealand Transport Agency.
Public consultation on the NZTA’s two preferred options has opened but a muck up with the distribution of consultation documents has concerned some members of the public who don’t have the necessary information.
The NZTA was responsible for the delivery of brochures to all households in Wellington city but the agency has admitted it was aware of a number of cases where brochures hadn’t made it into people’s letterboxes. Wellington State Highways Manager, Rod James, says because of the problem the NZTA had paid for the information to be provided in last week’s edition of a community newspaper. He could not disclose the additional cost involved.
“While this has come at some extra cost, ensuring Wellingtonians have the opportunity to see the proposals and give their informed feedback is our top priority right now,” James said.
Cr Iona Pannett, a long time campaigner against the NZTA’s roading options, says the agency looks incompetent.
“It’s not a good look,” Pannett says. “It’s not difficult to organise a distribution. I’ve done it with volunteers.”
She says roading was one of the biggest issues facing the city and it was important people were informed about the options being considered.
Meanwhile, the NZTA has also been criticised following its announcement last week that a new $11 million grandstand could be built at the Basin Reserve to block noise and pollution from its preferred flyover options.
“It just looks like people are being bought off,” Pannett says. “It’s really inappropriate to raise the possibility of a grandstand right in the middle of the consultation period.”
The Wellington Architectural Centre says building a grandstand would simply exaggerate the negative aspects of the Basin.
“The Basin redesign must prioritise connections to the city,” says Centre President Christine McCarthy. “Building a grandstand isn’t the way to fix the problem and the Basin needs to engage better with the city.”
Wellington Mayor Celia Wade-Brown supports the Architectural Centre’s alternative Basin plan to the NZTA’S flyover options.
She says the Basin Reserve and Memorial Park are iconic parts of Wellington and anything built would last for decades.
“We can’t let short term thinking get in the way of urban design that Wellingtonians can be proud of,” Wade-Brown says. “The Architecture Centre’s plan appears more attractive than the two flyover solutions and it should be considered by the NZTA.”
Public consultation closes on August 26 with a decision on which option will go ahead expected by the end of the year.
In a poll earlier this month 91 percent of Capital Times poll respondents said the NZTA should go back to the drawing board over Wellington’s roading options.
Have Your Say
2 Comments
David B Voss at 9:03 p.m. on 27 July said
We should not allow ourselves to be fooled by the term consultation in respect of the Basin Reserve and Mt Victoria tunnel proposals. According to the front-men of Wellington Tunnels Alliance, it is more a sort of feed-back process, by which there is no formal procedure that might affect the outcomes (unlike the submissions process under the Resource Management Act).
NZTA is doing the Minister's bidding and has engaged the Wellington Tunnels Alliance (WTA) to help it achieve the required ends. Since the WTA are people who specialise in building tunnels, a tunnel is part of the solution. To achieve the least cost solution, WTA have opted for a tunnel on the north side of the existing tunnel, subsuming Paterson St and part of Austin St in the process. It is this tunnel arrangement that predicates the need for the flyover in its preferred position.
A feature has been made of an estimated 2 minute saving in travel times during peak hours (2 hours per day, each way). What doesn't seem to have been identified is that, for the other 22 hours per day, travel times will be longer due to the introduction of two new traffic lights - both directions - along Ruahine St.
On the other hand, if one of the tunnel options south of the existing were adopted, it appears practical to avoid the need for the new traffic lights and possibly to obviate the need for flyovers around the Basin.
Heather at 6:56 p.m. on 1 August said
At last a creative solution from people who have vision and expertise