Wellington City Council is planning on tearing up Thorndon Quay to install what The Post has described as a “traffic light bonanza.” This will see 6 sets of traffic lights and five sets of speed bumps installed over just 1.7km of road.

Businesses, residents, councillors, and even the emergency services have rallied against the projects, calling it unsafe, unaffordable and irresponsible.

The Taxpayers’ Union has today launched a petition to Save Thorndon Quay. This can be signed at www.taxpayers.org.nz/petition_thorndon_quay

Commenting on this, the Union’s Policy and Public Affairs Manager, James Ross, said:

“There’s been one serious accident in ten years on this road and emergency services are saying this will make it harder to save lives, not easier. There’s absolutely no argument whatsoever tearing up the main route into Wellington is for safety.

“To sum up how stupid this city-killing publicity stunt is, it might all have to be dug back up again. There’s millions of dollars worth of pipes listed as needing urgent repair under Thorndon Quay, which aren’t being fixed before being built on top of.

“The Council is tripling residents’ rates to pay for projects like this, and local businesses – already paying the highest rates in the country - are saying this will send them under. Is not taking on even more debt to deliberately make people’s lives harder really too much to ask?”

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