Public make voices heard on Nelson Transport Plan

Tuesday, 6 April 2021

The future of Rocks Rd was one of the topics submitted on by members of the public at a Nelson City Council hearing on its Regional Land Transport Plan.

Finding a solution to Nelson's traffic woes is still high on the public's priority list, despite issues over funding that could potentially stall plans for the Nelson Future Access project.

At a meeting on Tuesday, the Nelson City Council Regional Transport Committee received submissions for its Regional Land Transport Plan 2021-31.

Forty-four individuals and organisations provided feedback during the month-long consultation period that ended on March 17 – with four speaking to their submissions at the meeting on Tuesday.

The Regional Land Transport Plan for Te Tauihu is a joint document involving the Nelson and Tasman councils along with Marlborough District Council and Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency.

* Multimillion-dollar boost proposed for public transport in Nelson-Tasman

* Nelson Future Access process dragged out by delay in 'technical assessments'

However, when the draft document was approved by council in February, there were few details regarding the long-running question over the Nelson Future Access Strategy – with the key business study still yet to be completed.

Traffic builds up during rush hour between Stoke and Richmond (file photo).

At a Nelson City Council meeting on the LTP in March, it was revealed the business case for the project was expected to be complete in the third quarter of 2021, along with a public update in May.

About $30 million of funding has been earmarked by council “aimed at improving safety and encouraging active travel” over the next 10 years.

Any funding for the Future Access Strategy would need to come from the National Land Transport Programme, with the Nelson project to be prioritised on a national basis once the business case was complete.

However, should the project fail to attract NLTP funding, it would effectively leave the detailed business case dormant for a decade.

Among the written submissions there were recurring themes of providing more accessibility for public transport and cycling, as well as support for the “Southern Link' motorway.

In 2020 Waka Kotahi NZTA outlined the three proposals for Nelson's Future Access Project concentrating on Rocks Rd, Waimea Rd, and the potential new highway following the old railway line.

At the meeting, NELSUST spokesman Peter Olorenshaw said while modal shift had been one of the main goals of the current council, he struggled to see how this was reflected in the RLTP.

“The cycle network is radically incomplete – how can you commit to significant mode share change without significant investment in cycle paths?”

Olorenshaw said the group was also “dismayed' by the possibility no work would be done on the Rocks Rd Esplanade in the next 3-4 years.

“We need to make cycle commuting the best option for more people … Continual delays are unacceptable; it cannot take four years before any work on the ground is undertaken.

Writing on behalf of the Tahunanui Business and Citizens Association, chairman Paul Matheson advocated for construction of a new road to ease the pressure from freight being transported along Rocks Rd to the port.

“Te Tauihu already has a higher proportion of cyclists than the national average … This reflects the substantial investment on cycling over the past few years, but TBCA believes the focus over the next 10 years should include a greater emphasis on solving the issue of increasing freight movements and the needs of an ageing demographic in local communities.”

At the meeting, retired civil engineer and land surveyor Kerry Bateman said the introduction of clearways to Waimea Rd would make a major difference to encouraging the use of public transport and reducing traffic.

Bateman said in the past he had worked on motorway design in Auckland, as well as feasibility studies for urban highways in the Greater London region.

“At the time I was very enthusiastic that urban highways was the way to go for cities.

“In London, it was quickly discovered that providing massive growth for private cars for work commuting on California model was just not feasible. The switch was almost universally made to mass public transport systems.”

Bateman suggested a clearways system be instituted for Waimea Rd, with priority lanes for buses, service vehicles and vehicles with more than four occupants, along with a park and ride bus transfer facility for commuters from Richmond and Stoke.

In response to a question from Councillor Brian McGurk, Bateman said he believed most of the city's traffic problems could be solved through the Waimea Rd thoroughfare – with Rocks Rd being able to “be basically left as it is”.

“The Californian model has shown that building more roads does not reduce congestion, in fact it leads to city centres becoming derelict.'

The Regional Transport Committee will convene again on Friday in a joint meeting with the Tasman District Council, to hear submissions on the Regional Public Transport Plan.