Wellington’s Deputy Mayor, Cr Ian McKinnon is making a bold stand. He wants everyone to know that he  supports the New Zealand Transport Authority’s proposed upgrade of the Ngauranga to Airport transport corridor. “It is already a State Highway” he says, “this project is to make it more efficient and effective, and they’re funding it”.
McKinnon says  the port and the airport are key foundations to the social, economic, and environmental  wellbeing of our city, and avoiding congestion is important for their operations.  He points out that traffic is often congested round the basin and through to the airport,“ and that’s with only five million people a year going there.  In twenty years there will be double that number”.
McKinnon notes that the eastern suburbs have an extensive film industry, populations are growing ,  there is the Aquatic Centre, and soon the Indoor Sports Centre will bring a whole new group of road users.
He says a feature of the proposed improvements to the Ngauranga to Airport corridor is for greater safety for walking and cycling as well as better public transport, much of which currently runs on congested single-lane roads. He believes that in many sections of the corridor walking and cycling are impossible or dangerous.
Stop-start traffic is damaging to the environment.  “I  lived for some years in West London, and now live alongside the motorway into the Terrace Tunnel, and have observed the traffic regularly”.
“It is important that people’s views should be heard” says McKinnon. He agrees that there will be vigorous debate on the corridor proposal, but hopes that that people can still live with different views and the weight of the debate will be on his side.

Save the Basin Reserve Campaigner Kent Dustin asks “Why spend the money when they need it so badly in Christchurch?”  He understands traffic volumes to the airport have not increased in the past five years. “We’ll have a billboard opposing it up at the Basin Reserve as soon as consultation starts” he says.  

A rally against the government’s Roads of National Significance programme will be held at Parliament grounds at noon on Wednesday July 6.
Organised by Save Kapiti, the rally aims to raise awareness of new roading proposals for the region including the Basin Reserve flyover, a second Mt Victoria tunnel and the Kapiti Expressway.
The government opens consultation on its roading programme on Saturday (July 2).