06 October 2009

Review shows traffic volumes don’t justify a motorway

Analysis of the traffic volumes expected on the State Highway between Poplar Ave and Peka Peka Road indicate no more than 900 vehicles per hour are expected by 2026, about half the amount of traffic needed to justify a motorway.

This is the conclusion reached by Flow Transportation Specialists, recognised experts in traffic analysis, after they reviewed the results of traffic modelling Opus International Consultants has developed for NZTA.

“Flow’s addendum to their Transportation Review on Road Transport through Kapiti says a four lane undivided highway with a design speed of 100kph, rather than an expressway, has an 1870 vehicle per hour capacity,” Mayor Jenny Rowan said today.

NZTA’s report assumes a growth rate of 0.9% per annum.

The Flow report says, “Even if the growth rate was 2% per annum, theoretically this section of highway could accommodate expected traffic growth for at least 50 years. However, critical to this assumption is that the highway and intersections will be able to accommodate turning traffic safely and efficiently,” the report says.

“What this means,” Jenny Rowan said, “is we don’t need a motorway. All we need is an improved State Highway.

“And the kinds of improvements we’re looking for would improve traffic flows, safety and how well the highway works. They would include four-laning, removing traffic lights, putting in roundabouts and median strips, reducing the number of entrances and exits onto the highway with slip roads and looking at underpasses.

“I expect that completing the two-lane Western Link and improving the existing State Highway will be the main thrust of the Council’s submission to NZTA,” Mayor Rowan said.

ENDS

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