Horowhenua StarThe man who led the charge to build the Ōtaki to North Levin expressway is now an angry man.
Antony Young was spokesperson for Build our Road, a campaign to ensure the expressway fulfilled the needs of Horowhenua residents and businesses. He’s also chair of the Horowhenua NZ Trust.
Proposed changes revealed by NZTA Waka Kotahi last week include replacing the interchange exit and entrance into Levin into a five-exit roundabout; removing the southern entrance onramp; and cancelling a bridge intended to connect Manakau Heights with the rest of the community.
The changes are troubling and short-sighted, Antony says.
“For a project designed to improve transport efficiency and reduce travel time across the lower North Island, this last-minute change undermines the very purpose of the expressway,” he says. “A roundabout in place of a full interchange [at Tararua Road] will significantly slow freight and commuter traffic, especially for companies like Mainfreight, whose logistics depend on smooth access to their depot.”
He says it also raises concerns for public safety, especially in light of the government’s stated intention to raise speed limits to 120km/h on some roads.
OPPOSED: Horowhenua NZ Trust chair Antony Young, Infrastructure NZ chief executive Nick Leggett, and Infometrics principal economist Brad Olsen.
Horowhenua’s population is projected to nearly double over the next 25 years. Antony says this growth demands smart infrastructure that can handle increased traffic volumes and provide seamless north-south connectivity.
“Instead, we’re being handed a solution that seems built to bottleneck, not to flow.”
He says communities and businesses have engaged in good faith through almost a decade of consultation, consents and design refinement.
“Now, four months before construction begins, we’re learning that a fundamental aspect of the plan has been altered with no meaningful opportunity for input.”
Antony says he understands the need to contain costs, but he’s baffled by the logic behind the recent cuts.
“This expressway is to be toll road, decided after the project was approved, consulted on, and signed off. If users are expected to pay, shouldn’t they receive the infrastructure they were promised?”
He says now is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to get it right, and is calling on residents to write to Transport Minister Chris Bishop and NZTA chair Simon Bridges with their concerns. Both strongly advocated for the expressway.
The chief executive of Genoese Foods in Levin, Andrew Parkin, says the proposed changes are a “let down”. He says the hold ups between Levin and Wellington got so bad that his firm decided to pull out of Fiji, where they were growing a lot of their basil.
“It just got too hard, so now we grow all our basil in New Zealand.”
The chief executive of Infrastructure NZ and former Porirua mayor Nick Leggett says it’s concerning if the changes are to cut costs.
“Saving dollars when infrastructure is built by shaving off important components tends to cost money in the long term. Do it once, do it right.
“The expressway should be better for Levin people, not cause congestion and limit access to the town that could stifle growth.”
Woodhaven Gardens director Emma Clarke says it’s madness.
“It is very shortsighted. This will cost future generations dearly. The original plans were consulted on, they were consented, land has been purchased to ensure a four-lane expressway. We need to get what we consulted on.”
Chief executive and principal economist at Infometrics Brad Olsen says the change in approach raises questions about how the benefits and costs of Ō2NL have shifted.
“Horowhenua’s population is expected to continue growing strongly, with more than 20,000 additional people in the next 25 years, and O2NL will unlock greater economic opportunities with better links throughout Horowhenua. It’s not clear if the change in approach is supported by analysis of anticipated traffic flows, and questions need to be asked about if the new proposal would create a less-useful outcome.”
Ōtaki National MP Tim Costley says a key aim of the road was to get traffic both to and through, or past, Levin.
“I’m concerned about congestion at Tararua Road at peak daily and holiday times with a full grade-separated interchange,” he says.
With a social media banner “I’m fighting for Ō2NL”, Tim is urging people to contact him at www.national.org.nz/levingateway
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