In Transit March 1995 - No 61 - focus on bypasses

 

In Transit March 1995 No 61

Bypasses

Urlich Hill, Tar Hill, Catlins

Auckland south-eastern arterial etc

Bypasses

This edition ran a feature article on bypasses, highlighting the construction of the Pokeno bypass on SH1 being tendered (which would become essentially the top stage of the Waikato Expressway). The key point being how bypassing the town enabled reconstruction of its main road to suit local traffic and visitors, whereas some towns feared bypasses would mean the end of passing trade, Pokeno was welcoming it. 

The article continues to make some points about different towns and the conditions that determine whether or not a bypass might proceed such as whether existing roads are largely used vs. a new corridor (as the latter is more expensive it is less likely to be funded).  Levin and Stratford were cited as towns where it was too expensive to build a bypass as a new road would be needed.  Levin curiously was noted that 75% of southbound traffic and 66% of northbound traffic stops in Levin - given the current project to extend the Otaki Expressway to north of Levin (bypassing it), conditions have clearly changed somewhat.   Hikurangi and Mangonui in Northland have both benefited from bypasses, and it was noted that relocating SH1 away from downtown Hamilton had enabled the main street to be made more pedestrian friendly.  This reportedly increased city centre shopping.  

Wanganui was noted as having a motorway designation for a bypass, but this was considered unrealistic given traffic volumes, so a bypass close to the proposed route is proposed.  Ashburton was an interesting case study, in that SH1 was relocated onto a parallel road away from the town centre, but development occurred on the new route. This is considered suboptimal, because it simply means the new route becomes congested as well.  Transit NZ focused on bypasses providing safer and more efficient traffic flow.

Size of towns was important in considering bypasses, with Hamilton, Tauranga and Palmerston North having the main arterial running through them, able to stand on their own, but smaller towns regard through traffic as a lifeblood.  Timaru was noted as upgrading its main shopping street once its bypass is completed. Temuka likewise.  In Dunedin, SH88 was relocated away from Anzac Square/Dunedin Railway Station to make it more attractive for tourists, which was paid for fully by Dunedin City Council because it was a marginal disadvantage to motorists on the state highway. Progress was noted on designing bypasses for Motueka and Stoke, despite funding being considered marginal at this time. Finally, the bypass of Orewa (which ultimately became the Northern Gateway toll road) was noted as being as issue, because residents were concerned about the effect of the link road into Orewa (plus the original bypass designation was shelved, because Orewa's development mean the bypass would run between developments.

Other projects

• Urlich Hill realignment in Northland was approved (a 1km project)
• Mangaiti Hill deviation south of Tokoroa on SH1 had started (a 6 km project)
• Funding for sealing 11km of the Catlins Road had been approved, with a remaining 32km left to be sealed.
• Transit NZ has approved funding for Auckland City Council's South-Eastern Arterial project (with plans for it to be linked to Mangere Bridge in due course)
• Strategy underway to ease congestion on Auckland's Northern corridor, by relieving bottlenecks on approaches to the Harbour Bridge, and developing a priority lane between Onewa Rd and Constellation Drive to encourage bus use and high occupancy vehicles. This would ultimately lead to construction of the Victoria Park Tunnel and the Northern Busway (although at the time the plan was for widening the Victoria Park viaduct). Note the expectation at the time was that the busway would be a high-occupancy vehicle lane.