Subscribe to RSSShowdown Over Kapiti Expressway
The Kapiti Coast District Council meets tomorrow to decide on whether to continue to fight NZTA’s plans to build a motorway through the Kapiti Coast.
Late last year, the council made a detailed submission proposing NZTA and the government choose other options: safety and flow improvement to State Highway 1, the building of a “two-lane Western Link Road and “continued improvement to the rail system - through passenger and freight rail improvements to Ōtaki and Palmerston North:”
On the district council’s website, Mayor Jenny Rowan says: “Saying I will work constructively with NZTA does not mean I will roll over and accept poor design, bad ideas, or poor process. Mitigation will be the name of the game. We will all need to work together to get the best environmental, economic, social and transport outcomes for the District under the new conditions imposed upon us.”
A group called the Alliance for Sustainable Kapiti organised an online petition to the prime minister saying the construction of a major expressway through the heart of the Kapiti district would “drastically change the coastal suburban/rural character of our community.
“It would have dramatic impacts, including community severance, noise, air pollution, and the destruction of waahi tapu and significant natural and cultural sites. Such an expressway would not address local traffic issues and would not provide through-traffic solutions for several years.”
The petition has had over 700 signatures and attracted interested from other countries.
Should be an interesting meeting tomorrow.
MORE:
Council website on the expressway
Council submission opposing the plan
1 Comments
How will a two-lane road, which will inevitably be upgraded to a four-lane road in the near future, prevent the same division that will occur anyway? I agree that rail should be a serious focus, but it sounds like ASK is just nitpicking.