Kathie Furlong: Road plans must be made clear

Kathie Furlong.

I read a text this week referring to the Links Road/Hawke's Bay Expressway corner as a disaster, that there should be a roundabout there, and could a roading engineer please explain.

The question has come up often in the years since the lights were belatedly installed to control the previously dangerous intersection, along with a number of comments and questions about various aspects of our roading network.

Though I am no longer a city councillor, nor am I a roading engineer, I still get asked if I know what is going on with road works. And I did spend time on the HB Regional Transport Committee which is responsible for the roading programme in the region, so maybe I can shed some light.

First of all, congratulations to the contractors and the Council for the recently-completed four-laning of Prebenson Drive and the Ford Road extension. The work was completed with minimum disruption to the flow of traffic from the Expressway to the city and the port and is a further example of the foresight of the city roading planners, others being the Ahuriri Bypass and Prebenson Drive. It is unusual for councils to fund and build greenfields new roads which are not part of a housing subdivision. Such new roads are more often part of the State Highway network, funded and constructed by NZ Transport Agency.

The widening of Prebenson Drive should also have been a nationally-funded project. It was identified at least five years ago as an integral part of a region-wide strategy to move heavy transport from the region to the port as efficiently as possible and preferably without the need to use Marine Parade. The other links in the chain are the Pilchers Rd/Mangateretere link across Whakatu to Pakowhai Road, and the Pakowhai Rd/Links Rd/Expressway interchange. This four-part project gained top priority in the Regional Transport Plan, agreed to by all HB councils and the NZ Transport Agency and was to be funded from the regional fuel tax fund. However, as time went on, it was clear that the fund would struggle to fund all four links. The Prebenson Drive and Ford Rd links were planned and costed but the other two aspects needed much more work and were seen to be Priorities 1 and 2, so the Napier end of the chain was set aside by the committee to wait its turn.

So . . . in a nutshell, in answer to your texter, there is a large roundabout planned for the Links Rd/Expressway/Pakowhai Rd intersection. Just when it will happen is a question that should be put to the Regional Transport Committee or the Manager of NZ Transport Agency.

Another question that could be put to them at the same time is: "What is going to be done at the Expressway/Meeanee Quay intersection?"

For a number of years there has been a plan to create a new entrance to the HB Airport at the Watchman Rd/Meeanee Quay intersection which would be a large roundabout and a road into the airport from Watchman Rd instead of the present entrance to the north. It is well-known that this section of Highway 2 is dangerous and confusing to visitors and residents alike. Apart from some spray paint on the road and some traffic-calming barriers, I have not heard of or seen any up-to-date plans for improvement of this intersection.

Because this is a State Highway issue, the ball is in NZ Transport Agency's court, not the Council's.

With the influx of holiday traffic and the imminent increase in seasonal transport on our roads to the port, the question from the texter is timely. A comprehensive update and explanation from the powers-that-be would be a great example of a new era of inclusive regional co-operation and would be welcomed by your readers.

- Kathie Furlong is a former deputy mayor of Napier.

- Business and civic leaders, organisers, experts in their field and interest groups can contribute opinions. The views expressed here are the writer's personal opinion, and not the newspaper's. Email: editor@hbtoday.co.nz