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Govt to spend $250 million “fixing” non-existent congestion
Govt to spend $250 million “fixing” non-existent congestion
The Government is constructing a $250
million motorway to relieve congestion, despite the New
Zealand Transport Agency stating that the road has no
congestion problems.
In emails obtained through the
Official Information Act an NZTA official stated that
“there is not a congestion problem between Palmerston
North and Waikanae”.
The comment was made in defense
of the NZTA's decision to not offer any financial assistance
to maintaining the Capital Connection train route from
Palmerston North to Wellington city.
However, the
Government is pushing on with plans to spend upwards of $250
million replacing the current SH1 north of Waikanae as part
of its $12 billion 'roads of national significance'
programme.
On March 18th, NZTA lodged a consent
application with the Environmental Protection Authority to
build the Peka Peka to Otaki section of the Kapiti
Expressway, which begins approximately 5 km north of
Waikanae, with an estimated cost of $251 million.
The
adjacent section from Mackays to Peka Peka was recently
granted resource consents through the EPA. According to a
leaked engineering report from BECA consultants, the $630
million project is projected to deliver $126 million in
benefits, giving it a benefit-cost ratio of 0.2.
The
‘roads of national significance’ are described by the
NZTA as “essential state highways which require upgrading
to reduce traffic congestion, improve safety and support
economic growth in New Zealand.”
Generation Zero
spokesperson Louis Chambers says this is a perfect example
of the National Government's irrational obsession with
building costly new motorways.
“I’m surprised the
Government is willing to spend exorbitant amounts of money,
supposedly to relieve congestion and support economic
growth, when their own agency claims that a congestion
problem doesn’t exist.”
Chambers says that the
National Government’s stance on the Peka Peka to Otaki
expressway highlights their outdated ‘dinosaur’
transport policy.
“Instead of providing Kiwi
communities with the public transport systems and low carbon
transport options they are crying out for, the Government is
throwing billions of dollars into uneconomic road
construction, and locking us into a future dependent on
fossil
fuels.”
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