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This story was originally published on RNZ.co.nz and republished with permission.
The latest plans to widen and extend the highway where Transmission Gully merges with State Highway 1 have been labeled a band-aid solution.
The latest plans to widen and extend the highway where Transmission Gully merges with State Highway 1 have been labeled a band-aid solution.
The Transport Agency will shortly call for bids to build an additional 650m extension of junction lane at Linden heading south towards Wellington.
But some wonder if it will work and if it can be built on time. The billion dollar highway will open in September of next year.
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Plans to move southbound traffic from Transmission Gully to the existing SH1 always involved a stretch where there would be a third junction lane.
But the Transport Agency now wants to extend that by more than half a kilometer.
One Car NZTA / Stuff
Recently, a review of the cost explosion and ongoing delays at Transmission Gully was initiated.
AA spokesman Dylan Thomsen said that with more growth north of Wellington and more traffic entering the city, the extension would minimize congestion in a known tight spot.
“People may raise a few eyebrows when they learn that additional work is required,” Thomsen said.
“But it’s really not that unusual with projects like this running over many years for things to change and alter as they get more models and updates on population growth and travel movements and things like that.”
But Nick Leggett, who represents the country’s truckers, said he was surprised the agency was only thinking about this now.
SUPPLIED
Nick Leggett, Executive Director of the Road Transport Forum.
“I think NZTA has been looking for solutions for several years, and regional decision makers have sadly frustrated them because they wanted to put an extra lane on State Highway 1,” Leggett said.
“But it seems this is a last minute band-aid, because they have known about the problem for a long time.”
The agency said the area was identified as a problem as part of the operational readiness work it had done over the past year.
Leggett said that about five years ago there was talk of having a new lane between where the two roads meet and bringing it to the Tawa exit ramp, to cope with the additional traffic Transmission Gully was going to generate.
The former mayor of Porirua and director of the Road Transport Forum was concerned that the late design change was not enough.
“Is this the best solution or is it the Band-Aid? I would like to understand a little more about what your modeling projects are and if people using Transmission Gully on the first day will face compromised safety due to vehicles leaving Gully and they need to merge with the existing state highway. “
SUPPLIED
Dylan Thomsen, AA spokesman on road safety.
Thomsen said that when the new road opened, people had to be realistic.
“The traffic coming down Transmission Gully and onto what is currently State Highway 1, at rush hour entering the city, we have traffic and congestion in Wellington and that will continue to be there, regardless of Transmission Gully,” he said.
Although the agency has not yet called for bids, it wants the additional merge lane to be completed by the end of August.
Leggett warned there would be problems if it was not done when the road was opened.
“If the highway opens without this, it will be much more difficult, and probably more dangerous, to get out of Transmission Gully and onto State Highway 1 in Linden,” he said.
“I think a lot of people doubt that Transmission Gully will be finished by its new due date. [September 2021]. There is a feeling that it will continue to work over time. “
The Transportation Agency said that in the coming months it will work with municipalities, partners and communities to keep them fully informed of plans and changes in the existing road network.
But Porirua Mayor Anita Baker said she knew nothing of the latest design update and would have liked the agency to have come to speak with her.
This story was originally published on RNZ.co.nz and republished with permission.
