Nelson City Council has u-turned on their support for part of the Nelson Future Access Plan that will see the reinstatement of a southbound clearway at a Tāhunanui intersection after community outcry.
Nelson City Council decided during a full council meeting late last month that they could not support Waka Kotahi in their plan to reinstate a clearway at the Bisley Ave intersection on SH6.
Mayor Rachel Reese sought support to write a letter on behalf of council to Waka Kotahi stating that council do not support the reinstatement. She said if there was not enough support around the table, she would write the letter personally however, seven other councillors were in full support.
Clearways had been briefly installed in 2013 but were removed shortly after following community protest over safety concerns.
Waka Kotahi, formerly known as NZTA, recommended in May 2021 under the Future Access Plan that priority lanes be installed along Waimea Rd and Tāhunanui Dr to alleviate the city’s long-term transport woes.
Waka Kotahi is planning to reinstate the Tāhunanui southbound lane in early 2023.
After the announcement last year, concerns were once again raised by the community about safety and the loss of on-street carparking outside businesses which include a pharmacy and medical centre.
Council then commissioned Indicate Limited to assess viable replacement options for the loss of nine short-term carparks that would be removed to reinstate the lane. The assessment focused on options that would assist customers of the three medical practices in the immediate area: Tāhunanui Pharmacy, Tāhunanui Medical Centre and Medlab.
During a snapshot assessment of the carparks use, it found that average occupancy on a Thursday was 40 per cent and average occupancy on a Saturday was 20 per cent with a peak occupancy of 70 per cent.
Alternative options considered ranged from leasing a portion of the car yard, buying and demolishing various buildings to replace with carparks or leasing nearby right of ways.
Of the 10 options looked at, none provided a suitable replacement for the loss of on-street parking, particularly for those with mobility issues.
For the nearby businesses, road user safety has been at the top of their list of reasons why they are against the reinstatement.
Jacinda Stevenson and Paul Mathieson on behalf of the Tahunanui Business and Citizens Association spoke at Public Forum during the full council meeting.
Jacinda said their aim was to stop the reinstatement.
“It was removed because it was dangerous.”
She says since the removal, traffic through the intersection has only increased.
Their presentation to council included crash analysis data from Waka Kotahi, which she says clearly shows that this intersection has the highest fatality and crash rate of any intersection in Nelson.
The TBCA stood on Tāhununui Drive for 12 hours on Friday 12 August to unofficially survey the types of traffic using the stretch of road.
Between 6am from 6pm more than 10000 vehicles passed through the southbound lane.
They found their were around 106 trucks passing every hour, often running the red lights which was thought to be due to the inability to safely brake with large trailer loads.
Jacinda says 40 other vehicles ran red lights over the time period.
The TBCA also tabled letters of support from surrounding businesses, Bicycle Nelson Bays, Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand, AA and local taxi companies, who all held concerns over the reinstatement.
Nelson MP Rachel Boyack spoke briefly during the meeting sharing her view that overall the Nelson Future Access study was an excellent piece of work.
“I share the concern around the dangers of this southbound lane, the concern I have is around large vehicles merging together. It’s the one piece of the plan I have had concerns about all along.”
TBCA say they have had no contact from Waka Kotahi since a letter in December 2021 informing the association’s lawyer that community engagement would happen on a more detailed design of the clearway. They say this has not happened, even though the proposed reinstatement is just months away.
Paul says overall the NFA is a good piece of work.
“But I can tell you now, if that lane goes in the pharmacy’s existence is in jeopardy because they won’t be meeting their contractual agreement with the health board, I don’t see why they should be sacrificed,” he said.
Rachel Reese says the community advocation of the issue has been strong.
“It’s this one piece that’s causing distress.”
