Transport Package

Porirua's Regional Land Transport Committee member Robert Shaw says the government’s new transport funding package does nothing to support early construction of critical roads like Transmission Gully.

“Incessant delays in getting Transmission Gully built hold back the development and growth of the whole Wellington region. Delays also put excessive and unnecessary pressure on communities such as those at Mana, Plimmerton, Papakowhai, Paremata and Pukerua Bay.”

"Even traffic from Whitby and Titahi Bay is being impacted on by road congestion that results from the failure to build the Transmission Gully Motorway. The effect is going well beyond the communities that are built around the present state highway."

Cr Shaw says while another $202 million will go into the Wellington region’s transport development over the next 10 years, it will still provide less than 60 percent of what the region needs to address currently planned projects - and it does not tackle Transmission Gully.

“And this at a time when private use of motor vehicles is increasing at twice the rate of population growth because of cheap imports which are flooding into the country at the rate of 18,000-a-year.”

He says the best hope for early construction of Transmission Gully may be to stitch together a public-private partnership which can put together a funding package – but under the new legislation even that has to have government approval.

Councillor Shaw wants the Regional Land Transport Committee to take a lead role in this "vial work". "Without determined leadership from our region, Transmission Gully will never be built" he added.

© Scoop Media