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.

In Transit April 1994

 

I have a series of copies of In-Transit newsletter from the 1990s which I will upload from time to time.

Notable in this issue are:

• SH2 realignment at Mt Bruce, featuring efforts by Transit NZ to protect what is now called the Pukaha Wildlife Centre.
• Comparison of New Zealand's reform experience (by this point) with some other jurisdictions, which noted NZ is well ahead of many
• Endorsement of the "Sandhills" route through Kapiti (which ultimately became the route of the Kapiti Expressway) and announcement of a study to assess improvements to SH1 between Porirua and Kapiti
• Investigation of earthquake proofing of the Wellington Urban Motorway over bridge
• Noting a study that indicated that a Levin bypass was not justified
• Noting that a major upgrade of Rimutaka Hill Road would not proceed for around 20 years

SH2 Wairarapa: The Mount Bruce realignment project had a high benefit/cost ratio, but was at a sensitive location. The lead article focused on how the roadworks progressed to minimise harm to the wildlife at the reserve. 

Reform: An article followed a series of conferences and meetings indicating that the funding evaluation process applied by Transit New Zealand was superior to that seen elsewhere. It was noted that assessment of maintenance budgets was more advanced in New Zealand than in other countries. Of other matters of note, a trial of congestion pricing in Cambridge (UK) is noted, based on travel time and distance, and how to contract for toll roads with private sector financing, with some concerns over not being able to introduce competition into service delivery.  PPPs at the time overseas primarily involving a single long-term partner, raising questions about how to manage the handover of assets after the concession has concluded.

SH1 Kapiti: Transit New Zealand sought to address congestion issues on SH1 north of Porirua, and so commenced investigations on a Pukerua Bay Bypass (which did not proceed ultimately because of Transmission Gully), four-landing Pukerua Bay to Plimmerton (which did proceed as it had a high benefit/cost ratio primarily due to safety benefits), increasing traffic efficiency along Mana Esplanade (which did proceed) and improvements to intersections of SH1 in Paraparaumu (which did proceed). The report noted the preservation of the historic "Sandhills Motorway" designation in Kapiti, which dated from 1950s proposals for a Wellington-Levin motorway, and much of which ultimately was used for the Kapiti Expressway.  

SH1 Wellington: Transit New Zealand undertook a major review of the earthquake resilience of the Thorndon overbridge of the Wellington Urban Motorway, and concluded that it should be strengthened to cope with an earthquake of 6.5-7, with a 7-15% likelihood within 50 years. Strengthening the overbridge to cope with a greater earthquake than that was seen to be unlikely to be effective.  This project would subsequently get funded, notwithstanding that it would not meet the funding threshold from a benefit/cost appraisal, because the Transit New Zealand board was convinced resilience was not adequately valued.

SH1 Horowhenua: A transportation study on a bypass for Levin reported the benefit/cost ratio would "only" be 1.3-2.5, which was far below the fundable threshold in 1994.  Of course today that would be a level that could support funding. A designation from Queen St, Levin to Waitarere Beach Road was to be retained.  Preliminary funding approval for a bypass of Levin, as part of the extension of the Kapiti Expressway from north of Otaki, was granted, but is being reviewed.

SH2 Wellington-Wairarapa: An investigation of a major upgrade of Rimutaka Hill Road indicated it would not proceed within 20 years (by 2014) without an additional source of funding. The proposal was a 70km/h design speed with passing lanes and sealed shoulders at a price then of $25m.  Since then there have been some upgrades of the route, but it is still far from being a 70km/h route!