Creative and pragmatic solution needed for Basin blockages

Mayoral Candidate Jo Coughlan today pledged to prioritise a creative and pragmatic solution to congestion problems at the Basin Reserve.

“The City, Regional Council and the New Zealand Transport Authority are doing great work on ‘Let’s Get Wellington Moving’ to consider an integrated citywide network.

“But as part of this exercise we need to find a way forward urgently on the Basin Reserve. The solution needs to be one that the people of Wellington, the cricket community and local residents are happy with,” Jo Coughlan said.

“I don’t have fixed views on what the solution might be but a creative city needs a creative solution. We must get on and future proof Wellington’s roads for the next 100 years of growth. Electric cars and buses need roads too.
“There are already some interesting concepts out there including another tunnel alongside the Basin. I am sure there are other great ideas out there too. This is the kind of vision we need.

“Post election my Capital City Infrastructure Advisory Group will be addressing key infrastructure projects for Wellington including roading around the Basin Reserve and we will work closely with central government to ensure Wellington receives its share of national funding for these projects.

“I do think that we can find a solution that will deliver benefits to public and private transport and which will enhance the experience for pedestrians and cyclists. Right now the Basin is an island surrounded by heavily trafficked roads. I would like to see the solution link the Basin more directly with the city and Memorial Park on one side and with the three schools and Government House on the other.”

“As Mayor I will make this a priority. The key thing is we crack on and do not delay any longer. “

Attached are some of the designs for the wider tunnel and road projects including a concept for a Basin Reserve solution. This is without prejudice to different solutions being found or designs and alignments being adopted. What these ideas do is give the people of Wellington some appreciation of what might be achievable if a proper consultation process is run immediately after the election. [Basin_reserve_photos.docx]

Note to Editors: Rather than the normal Bio, we provide, for your interest, answer to question 1 from Scoop Transport questions below. Full set of questions and answers can be found at http://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=91616

1. In what ways do you think transport in Wellington will change over the next twenty years?

As a city we are going to be faced with two major transitions. One is demographic. This includes more people, more of them will be living in city centre and the population as a whole is aging. The second change – and the really exciting one – is that the nature of transport is going to evolve, and probably evolve quite quickly.

We’re already on the cusp of autonomous cars, and the impacts of climate change mean that we’re going to likely electrify much of the fleet, including buses and the freight sector. So the mix of vehicles on the roads could change quite radically – we may own fewer cars but use them more often for brief trips.

Thanks to autonomous vehicles we may be able to fit far more of them in a given road space. They may well be much quieter than current cars, and some of the things we do with vehicles at the moment – like small high-value deliveries – may transition to other technologies, such as drones. And in an increasingly health-conscious world, many more people may opt for active modes like walking and cycling. Biking to work could be far more attractive if there’s far less exhaust pollution and safer roads.

We are moving fast to an electric fleet of cars, and I want to accelerate this trend by ensuring we have the best infrastructure for these vehicles. (I’ve recently announced a target of 75% of the council fleet to be electric by 2020). I commend NZ Bus for their plans to transition to a fully electric bus fleet – this is exactly the sort of solution Wellington needs, and everyone agrees we need those noisy and polluting diesel buses off our roads. I will work with the Regional Council wherever possible to help ensure that our bus fleet is 100% electric within 10 years. The environmental impacts will be significant and positive.

Buses are facing the same congestion as cars, and our road system is not as safe as it should be for cyclists and pedestrians. So I want to ensure Wellington has a first-rate transport network that relieves congestion on key corridors for both bus and vehicle users, and which safely separates cyclists and pedestrians wherever possible. The reality is that our topography makes this challenging from a practical point of view. We need to be pragmatic about the solutions

It’s apparent that we need plenty of flexibility in our transport network. My transport plans are designed to give us the adaptability in our key transport corridors that we’re going to need to thrive. We have physical constraints in Wellington, and our geography dictates many of our transport solutions – so we need to plan accordingly.

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