A meeting of residents concerned with the proposed tolling of the Te Ahu a Turanga Highway at the Village Valley Centre in Ashhurst.
A meeting of residents concerned with the proposed tolling of the Te Ahu a Turanga Highway at the Village Valley Centre in Ashhurst.
Public opposition to the proposed tolling of the Manawatū Gorge replacement road continues to grow.
More than 300 people filled the Village Valley Centre in Ashhurst last night, seemingly unanimous in opposition to the proposed Te Ahu a Turanga Highway toll.
A month ago Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced the Government’s proposal to toll the Manawatū Gorge replacement road Te Ahu a Turanga.
The toll proposal had come out of the blue and has quickly become a major issue for communities affected by a slip that closed the Manawatū Gorge Road in April, 2017.
Similarly large crowds attended recent public meetings at Woodville and Dannevirke, while a protest hikoi is planned at Woodville this weekend.
Construction on the four-lane 11.5km Manawatū Gorge replacement road to reconnect communities in Manawatū, Tararua District, Hawke’s Bay and northern Wairarapa began early in 2021 and was expected to be completed by mid-2025.
In the meantime motorists were using alternative roads Saddle Road and to a lesser extent Pahiatua Track, although both those roads were also prone to closure through slips.
Concerned residents at the Ashhurst meeting were joined by politicians, manawhenua and local Goverment elected members from the various regions affected.
Tararua District Mayor Tracey Collis spoke at the Te Ahu a Turanga meeting in Ashhurst.
Brown recently told Parliament tolling was a way to offset a cost blowout due to high inflation, supply chain issues and the late addition of a shared user path across the length of the project.
Te Ahu a Turanga was initially expected to costs $620 million. That figure had since been revised to $824 million.
Waka Kotahi Director of Regional Relationships Linda Stewart said at the replacement road met the threshold for tolling and setting toll fees was a balance between maximising revenue while ensuring maximum road usage.
The proposed toll fee was $4.30 for light vehicles and $8.60 for heavy vehicles.
Palmerston North Deputy Mayor Debi Marshall-Lobb said while council was not opposed in principle for toll roads for new roads, a toll proposal had to be discussed with the community in the planning stage, not near completion of work.
“This has come at the 11th hour and the proposed rate is double that of any other toll road,” she said.
Pavement crews putting down layers of asphalt in Cut 13 on Te Ahu a Turanga: Manawatu-Tararua Highway.
PNCC elected members had confirmed their submission opposing tolling of the Te Ahu a Turanga Highway earlier in the day. Key reasons cited for opposing the toll in the PNCC submission were:
- The toll proposal did not form part of the original planning for the road.
- The proposed toll will have a significant financial and social impact on local communities.
- It is a replacement road for the closed State Highway 3 through the Manawatū Gorge and differs from other “new road” toll proposals.
- NZTA identifies Te Ahu a Turanga as both a new road and a replacement road in its tolling assessment.
- The proposed toll rate is nearly double the rate of existing tolls and other proposed toll roads.
- NZTA estimates 37% or between 3000-5000 vehicles, will use alternative routes Saddle Road and Pahiatua Track to avoid paying the proposed tolls.
- These traffic numbers will result in an increased financial burden on the local councils and the community, who will be responsible for maintaining these roads to a safe standard.
- NZTA says Saddle Rd and Pahiatua Track are the alternative roads, however, these roads can be impacted by significant weather events causing closures, meaning they aren’t viable alternate roads
At the meeting, Horizons regional council chairperson Rachel Keedwell said she thought it was wrong to put a toll on a replacement road with no safe alternative.
Labour Party transport spokeman Tangi Utikere at the Ashhurst meeting about the proposed tolling of Te Ahu a Turanga Highway.
Labour Transport spokesperson Tangi Utikere attended the meeting and said the toll was a revenue gathering exercise to balance the books.
The scope of the initial project was delivered on budget and on time, so “at the very last minute, to be hit in the pocket, is unacceptable,” he said.
Rangitaane o Manawatū representative Wiremu Te Awe Awe said manawhenua opposed tolling and would never had agreed had it formed part of the initial consent.
“There was no mention of tolls,” he said.
Waka Kotahi’s own estimates were that at least 37% of motorists were expected to use an alternative route rather than pay tolls.
Phil Stevens and Arthur Yeo.
The meeting was organised by local residents Arthur Yeo and Phil Stevens. Yeo said roading projects should be funded through fuel tax and road user charges - not tolls.
“We were promised the state highway traffic in Ashhurst was temporary. This proposal, if it goes ahead, breaks that promise,” he said.
Stevens said both Saddle Road and Pahiatua Track were “glorified goat tracks” and not suitable as main thoroughfare alternatives.
“Those roads are manifestly unfit for purpose,” he said.
Stevens said projected traffic numbers were well below the required daily vehicle movements to warrant the introduction of a toll.
But the problem for Ashhurst wasn’t just the prospect of tolls. Less people using the gorge road meant more traffic through their town connecting with the alternate routes.
Since the Gorge closure, all traffic enroute to Saddle Road came through Ashhurst.
Ashhurst Primary School principal Heath Chittenden said the school had been forced to erect fences and security cameras as the large increase in out-of-town traffic going past the school had seen it become the target of crime.
“It’s the people driving through doing this,” he said.
Utikere urged the public to make submissions. The deadline for submissions is Monday, October 7 at 5pm. Submissions can be made online by visiting nzta.govt.nz
