Tasman to Release Regional Land Transport Plan for Consultation

A review of the priorities for Tasman’s transport network has identified several changes to the 2015 Tasman Regional Land Transport Plan, including new projects to improve the Champion-Salisbury Road roundabout in Richmond, and Hutchinson’s Bridge near Murchison.

The Regional Land Transport Plan, which is used to bid for National Land Transport Funding funding, is reviewed every three years. The Plan takes into account Tasman’s local needs as well as the regional plans of Nelson and Marlborough, recognising the relationship and connectedness between the three authorities at the top of the South Island.

Several changes have been identified in the latest review, which is set to go out for public feedback between mid-January and the end of February 2018.

The changes include:

• A new safety objective for the Top of the South to reduce death and serious injuries on the roads

• Combining several projects in Motueka into a single Motueka Improvements project looking at making Motueka High Street safer for pedestrians and improving intersection layouts

• Combining the Motueka Bridge Widening project and Takaka Hill Study into a single State Highway 60 corridor review, looking at safety improvements, reducing the risk of community isolation due a natural disaster affecting Takaka hill and SH60 bridges, as well as addressing the likely effects of future traffic growth on Motueka town centre

• Widening Hutchinson’s Bridge near Murchison to two lanes

• Projects to improve the Champion-Salisbury Road roundabout in Richmond

• Upgrade of McShane Road, Richmond

• An extension of Hill Street to join up with Suffolk Road, Nelson

• A Network Operating Framework project for Richmond to guide future work to address congestion around key routes

Tasman Regional Transport Committee chairman Stuart Bryant said the plan includes both an overarching strategy for the Top of the South, developed in partnership with the Nelson City and Marlborough District councils and NZTA, as well as the priority projects.

“The key objectives for the top of the South are reliability, growth, resilience, travel choice and safety, and the projects all contribute to those outcomes in some way. Public consultation is open until the end of February 2018, and there will be hearings in mid-February 2018 so anyone who would like to have input into the plan and the priorities is welcome to do so. We’re aiming to approve the plan in May 2018 in time to put in our funding bid to NZTA.”

ENDS

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