Opinion: Decent roading network from Wellington to Levin basic need for Horowhenua people

Transmission Gully Motorway, looking north towards the Wainui Saddle. Photo / NZ Herald / Mark Mitchell

The recent opening of Transmission Gully has promoted an outpouring of comment from road users and transport activists and advocates alike.

There is much to be positive about; time savings, improved safety and a wider carriageway with median barriers – and all at 100km per hour for the full 27 kilometres. Great stuff!

Worryingly, there has also been media comment from the inner city, anti-road brigade whose only comments have been scornfully pointing out that the only result of Transmission Gully is the emergence of new bottlenecks at Peka Peka.

For those of us who advocate on behalf of the trucking industry like me, or travel the route regularly like many thousands of Horowhenua residents, the new bottlenecks are no surprise. We all know that when you push four lanes into two that is what happens!

Nick Leggett, chief executive of the New Zealand Road Transport Forum.

We also know that Transmission Gully is just one part of a wider network which needs upgrades. Closer to Wellington, Petone to Grenada, which was taken off the table by the Government some years ago, would relieve around 25 per cent of traffic off Ngauranga Gorge at peak time. Commuters from the Kāpiti Coast and Horowhenua know how vital this is.

The new Peka Peka to Ōtaki expressway, will of course be opening in the coming months, and then beyond that Ōtaki to Levin North has been mentioned positively by the Government, but has yet to be funded.

We cannot rely only on cars to move us around. Public transport is vitally important to many of our daily commutes and the further electrification of rail beyond Waikanae is something that must happen in the medium term, particularly with residential growth forecast in Levin.

My message to the communities of Horowhenua is to please be on guard. We cannot afford for Transmission Gully and the new Peka Peka to Ōtaki expressway to be the end of the job.

The influential advocacy that is constantly in the ear of this Government is city-centric and believes that everyone should ride a bicycle. Of course, it is perfectly good for many to do just that and we should invest in good public infrastructure that encourages cycling and walking.

However, I am referring to the somewhat sneering inner-city lobby that makes a judgment about those of us who live in a town or a suburb. The people who have no appreciation of what it's like to move kids, or an elderly person, 20 kilometres to school or a medical appointment.

Most of their lives exist within a couple of square kilometres and based on that reality. They have enormous influence over a wide policy agenda that impacts the lives of us who live differently.

It's important that those who have advocated for better, safer roading in Horowhenua stay on guard. We need transport infrastructure and policy that mirrors how people live, not unworkable objectives that judge us on our lifestyles.

Wellington might be a little over an hour away by car, but unfortunately some of the beliefs controlling the transport policy agenda might as well be from another galaxy.

In my opinion, climate change is used as a pretence for their decision making, yet in many cases, it seems to me judgment and control of the ways lives are lived outside of inner cities that is the real goal.

We need good balance in transport across different modes of travel. A decent roading network from Wellington to Levin should be the cornerstone of the very basic needs of people who live south of Palmerston North. Until we have that secured, we need to stay focused.

Nick Leggett is chief executive of Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand and a former mayor of Porirua