Upgrading SH1 must be a priority

Thursday 27 Jan 2005

Heather Roy - Press Releases - Transport

While the funding package announced by the Government today is a welcome contribution to Wellington's roading infrastructure, it completely ignores the main trouble spot - State Highway One, north of Wellington, says ACT Wellington-based MP Heather Roy.

"This stretch of road has been closed four times in the last 14 months by the vagaries of the weather, not to mention the many times it has been closed for long periods due to accidents. Wellington - the capital city - deserves reliable roading that can cope with the volume of traffic," Mrs Roy said.

"The Government should be addressing the terrible state of State Highway One urgently. The geo-technical surveys to find out if Transmission Gully is a viable option have not been done, and this is long overdue.

"Economic growth is also being limited by the failure to upgrade State Highway One. Providing infrastructure is a key role of government, and the Wellington region has been ignored in this regard. The Government has a $7 billion surplus, but is running an infrastructure deficit.

"Wellington's four Cabinet Ministers (Swain, Mallard, King and Hobbs), two Labour backbenchers (Laban, Hughes) and Labour-supporter Peter Dunne, have complete inertia when it comes to the desperately needed upgrade of State Highway One.

"Labour's dominance in this region has done nothing for Wellington's roading problems. These MPs are taking their supporters for granted, and are failing to address serious infrastructure problems.

"Spending $30 million on traffic demand management, including cycleways, will only be embraced by Wellingtonians if the cycleway extends from Porirua to Waikanae. This way people will have a faster alternative of getting in and out of Wellington than sitting in their cars waiting," Mrs Roy said.

ENDS

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