Transmission Gully hits a stumbling block

Thursday, 16 January 2020

Ally and Chris Haynes' North City Tenpin has been in the shadow of Transmission Gully construction for years.

The $850 million Transmission Gully route swoops through hills and valleys, splits off across a sprawling motorway and then runs headfirst into Porirua, and a question mark.

What do we do about the roundabout?

The Kenepuru interchange on Transmission Gully, with the link road running over SH1, railway lines, to connect to Kenepuru Dr, just south of the Porirua city centre. Southbound traffic on Transmission Gully can exit. North and southbound traffic from Porirua can enter Transmission Gully.

The NZ Transport Agency has revealed it is still figuring out what type of roundabout it needs to drop on a busy Porirua road at the connection to and from the city centre and Transmission Gully.

An investigation into the right size roundabout for the road comes as the link from the Kenepuru interchange is now almost touching its Porirua mate, Kenepuru Dr.

Preloading at the end of the link road bridges, near the point where the roundabout is expected to go.

**READ MORE:

* Traffic chaos predicted for off-ramp

Ally and Chris Haynes awaiting the end of the cones that have become part of their lives.

* New photos show progress on Gully road

* November opening for Gully road tipped**

Ally and Chris Haynes have had a view of earthworks from their business for more than three years.

Challenging conditions on the ground had made the link road build more complicated than expected, the agency said.

Agency project delivery senior manager Andrew Thackwray said unforeseen ground conditions meant the 'methodology and timeframe' on the link road had changed. This was to ensure a quality product, he said.

The Transmission Gully motorway north of Wellington was due to open in late 2020.

Another change was a rethink on the planned Kenepuru Dr roundabout.

'The Transport Agency is currently investigating whether the roundabout on Kenepuru Dr needs to be redesigned from a one lane roundabout to a two lane roundabout.'

Porirua mayor Anita Baker said the right sized roundabout was needed for Kenepuru Dr. She said she understood the original design was not 'fit-for-purpose' for the amount of traffic heading into it.

The new accessway to North City Tenpin, which took nine months to complete, the Haynes say.

'There's nothing worse than getting a road not as you want it.'

Ally and Chris Haynes, who own North City Tenpin, have watched the Kenepuru link road grow around their bowling alley over the past three-and-a-half years.

Ally Haynes said they were told in October last year that half of the roundabout on Kenepuru Dr would be completed by Christmas.

'They didn't even start it … they're not even close.'

Chris Haynes had doubts about a 2020 opening. He said it took nine months just to build a short sealed access road to their business. He said they were told it would take 16 weeks.

In the meantime, hidden from Kenepuru Dr and surrounded by works, they struggled to let people know they were still open.

'We still to this day get phone calls asking 'are you still open?', 'are you closing down?',' she said.

Thackwray said the potential roundabout redesign would not stop the link road opening at the same time as Transmission Gully.

'The Transport Agency acknowledges that changing schedules can be challenging and we expect that the Transmission Gully project team will continue to keep local communities and impacted businesses informed.'

The agency still expected Transmission Gully to open later this year.

Porirua City Council staff said the Kenepuru link road was an agency project and referred questions to them.

The council said its Transmission Gully link road projects at Whitby and Waitangirua were on target to be completed in mid-2020.

HOW WILL IT WORK?

The Kenepuru Link Rd will run between Transmission Gully's Kenepuru interchange and Kenepuru Dr, just south of central Porirua.

Southbound traffic on Transmission Gully can exit at the interchange, driving over the old highway and railway tracks to enter Kenepuru Dr and access central Porirua.

Porirua traffic can head north or south on Transmission Gully from the Kenepuru Link Rd.