This newsitem has 10 comments.

• ‘David: it depends where you are in Kapiti – which is quite a big community, with several different roads accessing SH1. The best advice would be to travel before or after the morning and afternoon peak hour(s.) Then you’d have no problems. ’
• ‘I’m considering a move down from Auckland to Kapiti (will work in Wellington). I have a company car, so the train is not an option. How long does it currently take to get from Kapiti to Wellington during peak hour? If it is too much of a nightmare I may have to consider relocating to somewhere between Kapiti and Wellington. Thoughts? ’
• ‘As far as the unwanted and damaging sediment the Transmission Gully road will put into the pristine and beautiful Pauatahanui Inlet – when are we as a society going to start dredging harbours and estuaries to remove silt if necessary? We seem to take it as a fait accompli and only offer excuses why NOT to do any thing once the silt is there (eg Wellington and Porirua harbours). Instead we should be ensuring those responsible take action to both prevent silting up harbours as much as possible AND remove silt if it accumulates. It’s only engineering, but the will needs to be there to do it. ’

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• ‘One of the main aims of Transmission Gully is said to be to remove traffic from the present main roads. This could be done on an interim basis and with modest cost simply by completing the coastal road. This would link Raumati South with Otaki and would keep the local traffic off the main highway. Why is this not being done? ’
• ‘Who cares! Isn’t it all about cars being able to keep up their 100 kmph speed and zoom past settlements? Who cares that the local economies depending on travellers will go out of business? Aren’t there alternatives? Who cares that world will run out of oil, and that electric cars will cost about $60,000 for a car the same as a Mitsubishi Colt (that is before govt subsidies). Who cares that the environment will be spoilt! Don’t we have enough of it already? Who cares if it is going to cost $1 billion? Aren’t we a rich country? Who cares! Who cares!. Who cares…. ’

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This newsitem has 10 comments.

• ‘I have an opinion on Transmission Gully. http://wellingtoncycleways.wordpress.com/2011/08/18/nationals-white-elephant/ I’m with Jon R – being a list MP so high up the National list is an appointment not a candidacy, and the electorate basically has no recourse to turf him out. I’ve been driving the Coast road for 3 years (but not anymore as I’ve buggered off out of Wellington, and no longer work there or live there or in Kapiti) and I can say a few things about the Wellington to Levin RoNS: There is significantly less traffic now than in 2008, and with fuel prices going up demand is only going to fall away. Traffic levels on the SH1 through Tawa and Porirua are noticeably less than 3 years ago. The 2 lane to 1 lane at Pukerua Bay is a bottleneck. This is because of the 100km/hr to 50km/hr effect rather than 2 lanes to 1. I think a Puk bay bypass would eliminate most of the evening queue. Plus the evening queue is largely cosmetic and is hardly a real infrastructure problem. The worst bit for capacity is Waikanae to Paraparaumu. That road is just hopeless. It has traffic snarls on weekend mornings. A lot of the weekday traffic is school traffic as there is no high school in Waikanae. Build a high school in Waikanae and/or have a decent bike to school programme in Kapiti. A second bridge would be of benefit, and the locals reckon they only need one for locals. (The Western Link Road the locals go on about itself would be largely unneeded duplication). I say build a 4 lane bridge on the path of a possible future motorway and then link it only to the existing roads. All problems solved for 30 years, and see that thing about falling demand, the motorway may never be needed. John Key says he doesn’t want to build a 2 lane road narrowing down to 1 lane and hence he wants to build Transmission Gully. With falling demand, and a Pukerua Bay bypass he could save $1 billion dollars. For the sake of a few outer Wellingtonian suburbanites and them getting home 27 seconds quicker – a billion bucks. Otaki needs a bypass, but the highway does not need to be duplicated all the way to Waikanae. That’s just pissing money up the wall. Wellingtonians having a bit of a bummer sitting in a traffic queue as they piss off for Ruapehu on a Friday night are not a good reason to spend billions on duplicating existing roads. They could actually run a train on a Friday night, returning Sunday night, Wellington to Ohakune. There are far more important things to spend money on (or to not spend it at all) than a suburbanites useless motorway. ’
• ‘2011 Vote National out time, massive bunch of losers. Amazing that they can bring stupid projects like this forward but struggle to bring the much needed CBD loop, that has been planned for a long time as well. All I know is that its unlikely will see the construction of 2015/2016 as National are likely to be voted out by then. So I wouldn’t worry about this too much guys. ’
• ‘Hooray! More congestion in Wellington! ’

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This newsitem has 10 comments.

• ‘Although, their website also says: “The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) intends to lodge regulatory consent applications with the Environmental Protection Authority for the Transmission Gully project in mid 2011. The current Phase 2 work, to gather information required for the lodging of the consent applications, is progressing and the project team is on track to meet the mid 2011 target.” “The 27-km four-lane (two in each direction) Transmission Gully route runs from MacKays Crossing to Linden and is expected to cost $1.025 billion (2008 dollars) to build. There will be interchanges connecting the route to State Highway 58 and to Kenepuru with a connection to Kenepuru Drive. In addition, there will be two link roads from the eastern Porirua suburbs of Whitby and Waitangirua to the route. The Porirua City Council will be the authority responsible for the Whitby and Waitangirua link roads. The entire consenting process, using the EPA path, is expected to take approximately 12 months. If the regulatory consents are granted, the timetable for the project sees construction beginning in late 2014 and substantially completed by 2020.” ’
• ‘On teh NZTA website, there doesn’t seem to be any projects in Wellington that are even ON their list, let alone decisions up for review. The last thing on their list is: 18 August 2010 NZTA (SH1) Terrace Tunnel – approval to commence public engagement, detailed design and construction funding There’s no funding for Trannie Gully yet. ’
• ‘With petrol prices now closing in on 2008′s highs, these Roads of National Party Significance are starting to look more and more like white elephants – or a really dumb “investment”, take your pick. Not learning from history does seem to be a particular skill of politicians, but Joyce’s refusal to learn from a petrol price spike that occurred less than three years ago (when commuters flooded to public transport) seems like an exercise in deliberate perversity. ’

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This newsitem has 10 comments.

• ‘I can understand this Mr Ashe not being interested – Muritai is a fair bit away from the Gully. But its a bit different for those who live further north and who have need to come into the city (for whatever reason – Picton Ferry, for example). Comment has been made (re. the Gully route) on readying the inner city roading first – a valid comment in my opinion. Anywhere and everywhere any road is improved to this level just shifts the traffic jams to a new or at least different place. For those who live in Horowhenua or Manawatu and travel to WGTN on a regular basis (or avoid doing so for similar reasons), the trip between Paramata and Otaki can be diabolical. Transmission Gully will only improve a small part of their trip. I’m more interested in the light rail idea for Wellington city. A decent system will encourage more of those out-of-towners to use the existing trains. I suspect what many people are thinking of is a modernised version or extension of last century’s rail system that pours thousands in and out of Wgtn every day. But what if the muted light rail were more like a glorified fairground rail (think Ghost Train and/or Roller Coaster)? Let’s face it – we’re already a decade into another century. Why can’t we think futuristic and design a system of programmable cars which, on activation will join a set rail track and take passengers to preprogrammed destinations. It dosn’t have to be a ring system either (though that may be a starting point) – with modern technology I don’t see why this idea should be a problem. Then you build a massive car park near the central railway station and close off the CBD to ALL traffic unless they purchase a special pass. A ring road would allow bypass to skirt the city for those travelling to the airport or for those who live in the eastern suburbs (though the light rail could be extended out to the eastern suburbs if it were proving successful). To some extent, at least, it should relieve the need for some of the other roading projects currently being discussed even if just scaled back a bit.. ’
• ‘and another one, with a contrary viewpoint: http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/3184581/Letter-Building-Gully-route-isn-t-smart “The one thing that your five pages of glowing coverage of the Transmission Gully decision failed to mention (Dec 16) was the project’s benefit-cost ratio of less than one. This means that, for every dollar spent on building the new road, only 36c-50c in benefits will result. Put another way, the road doesn’t make economic sense. Does it make sense for other reasons, such as resiliency? Perhaps, if it weren’t being built along a fault line, didn’t involve a mode of travel vulnerable to oil-price rises, or add significantly to our greenhouse gas emissions. Transmission Gully isn’t smart thinking. It’s a 60-year-old solution that will cost us more than it will benefit us, leave us $2 billion poorer, and no closer to having a better, more sustainable alternative.” ROBERT ASHE, Muritai ’
• ‘There are a couple of letters to the paper today that i find interesting, so am just going to post them up here (in case i ever want to refer back to them later. You know, meticulous filing system and all that…) “Transmission Gully has the go-ahead – what a marvellous decision. It’s been so long coming that I can hardly believe it. And even some of the doubters have been won over, including Wellington’s mayor. Of course the Greens will rant and rave about bicycles, public transport and walking. None of those modes can cope and, of course, funding is already being spent on them. They will still fall way short of what’s needed to meet Wellington’s, and the region’s – let alone the country’s – requirements for the long-term future. I hope these improvements will also help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It’s great, too, to have some really good news for Wellington after Auckland has hogged so much of it recently. Let work start.” Peter Graham, Paparangi. Max says: where the hell is Paparangi? Is it up the coast? Or at least as far as Johnsonville? ’

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• ‘Yes Bryan,I agree whole-heartedly. What sort of mess are we handing our Grandchildren?!This is where the public ARE too stupid to take the initiative, so legislation appears the only answer.Firstly, BAN all imports of non-commercial diesel vehicles, impose a 'Carbon Tax' as part of the registration of all other non-commercial diesels left on the road. In short make it very unattractive to run the damned things!Secondly, introduce a sliding 'Carbon Tax' on all the other non-commercial petrol vehicles, based on their quoted KPL (Kms/Litre) figures.Let's use the wasted land around suburban railway stations as vehicle parking and introduce a substantial toll on all non-commercial vehicles entering the CBD in all major cities - Wellington and Auckland in particular.Both these cities have existing rail systems. Let's MAKE people use them!This way, we'll have full trains during peak times and no-doubt more of them.Obviously this would take some of the Rates burden away from ordinary homeowners, as more people using the system would mean it could start operating more efficiently.Then we need to look at Trolley Buses in particular and Buses in general....Wellington has one of (if not THE best) bus service operating anywhere.How many commuters know it can cost as little as 80 cents - Adult Fare - to travel from Wellington Station to Courtenay place?On top of this, by riding a Trolley Bus, one is travelling using renewable energy - not a Hyrocarbon in sight!It always amazes me when the Mr. & Mrs. Selfishly-Stupid'(they usually have hyphenated names...) whinge about how unsightly the Trolley Wires are... not anywhere near as unsightly as Granny & Grandad prematurely dead from emphysema, brought on by exhaust fumes!Instead of dispensing with the Trolleys, we need more! The electric motor is still the most efficient in the World. Instant torque, with NO POLLUTION!!So, until some of the above have been addressed, the Brick Wall we all hammer our heads against will hold.One would like to think our 'fine, forward-thinking' City Council would take the initiative and ban non-commercial vehicles from the CBD.... but no... most Councillors seem hell-bent on shoving a Motorway extension (saving 1.5 minutes in peak hour traffic) through what was a part of Wellington's Heritage.Interested in Wellington's future?Rubbish!They can't see beyond their next photo-opportunity!Thank heavens one or two of you aren't just there to feather your own nests and take your charge responsibly.Thanks Pepp!’

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