Wellington City Council is planning on tearing up Thorndon Quay to install what The Post has described as a “traffic
light bonanza.” This will see 6 sets of traffic lights and five sets of speed bumps installed over just 1.7km of road.
Businesses, residents, councillors, and even the emergency services have rallied against the projects, calling it
unsafe, unaffordable and irresponsible.
The Taxpayers’ Union has today launched a petition to Save Thorndon Quay. This can be signed at www.taxpayers.org.nz/petition_thorndon_quay
Commenting on this, the Union’s Policy and Public Affairs Manager, James Ross, said:
“There’s been one serious accident in ten years on this road and emergency services are saying this will make it harder
to save lives, not easier. There’s absolutely no argument whatsoever tearing up the main route into Wellington is for
safety.
“To sum up how stupid this city-killing publicity stunt is, it might all have to be dug back up again. There’s millions
of dollars worth of pipes listed as needing urgent repair under Thorndon Quay, which aren’t being fixed before being
built on top of.
“The Council is tripling residents’ rates to pay for projects like this, and local businesses – already paying the
highest rates in the country - are saying this will send them under. Is not taking on even more debt to deliberately
make people’s lives harder really too much to ask?”