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Horowhenua StarAn 11th-hour bombshell affecting one of the biggest infrastructure projects in the region’s history has a community stunned.
NZTA Waka Kotaki’s announcement this week to scale back plans on the long-awaited Ōtaki to north of Levin expressway has been met with widespread anger and frustration
Horowhenua’s mayor has called it crazy. A key business leader has called it “completely unacceptable and arrogant”. Residents and business owners are demanding answers.
Once upon a time “bypass” was a dirty word. Now, the region screams for a new expressway to relieve congestion and future-proof it for an impending population tsunami in Horowhenua, tipped to almost double and hit 62,000 by 2041.
After years of lobbying, the expressway finally got a green light in 2018. Since then, consultation with the community had been a cornerstone of the project as route options were considered, modified, and finalised.
Until now. With work proper due to start, the community seems to have little or no chance to object to what is a late deviation from the original plans.
The first whiff the public had of the change came at a meeting at Manakau Hall on Sunday, intended for a small group of community stakeholders. Word soon spread that something was up, and 250 people showed.
Among the proposed changes are the removal of the planned Manakau vehicle overbridge and a redesign of the Tararua Road interchange to a roundabout configuration.
There are fears that not fulfilling the original plans could have serious consequences for the region, especially given an entire new town called Tara Ika is about to be built east of Levin, and right beside where the Tararua interchange was to be built.
Local MP Tim Costley has also publicly criticised NZTA for the plan change, although it’s impossible to ignore the NZTA board is working to a government budget.
With a massive office block already shipped in and diggers chomping at the bit, the government and NZTA can ill-afford to have too many more hold-ups. If we have learnt anything, it’s that nothing gets cheaper with time.
The 24km project, now estimated to cost as much as $1.8 billion, could have been completed for less than half the price a decade ago.
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