Its that time again – time for another round in the turtle-paced tennis match that is the public consultation process. This time the ball is back in our court, taking the form of a new draft plan for the Ngauranga-Airport transport corridor.
The plan is quick to address what is perhaps the most topical of the proposed options: light rail. To summarise, the report concludes that light rail is “exciting” and “potentially a very effective public transport solution,” but that none of the tested options were found to be feasible within the next deacde. However a “detailed scheme assesment” is to…
read the full entryIn what seems like a record fast time for Public Consultation, Greater Wellington Regional Council and Transit have turned out results from the public consultation round. As Transit’s “Phase 2 Consultation Report” notes, there was a total of 4673 submissions, including 3750 Option 3 “Green Alliance” postcards and 482 Chamber of Commerce postcards received, and a mere 71 actual written submissions from various bodies and organisations.
It is gratifying to note that the Eye of the Fish’s comments were also noted on their “Media Article Log” page, with all three of our postings listed, along with other bloggers including Poneke,…
read the full entryI apoligise for echoing Poneke almost entirely, but today is the last day to submit feedback on the Ngauranga to Airport study.
Enough has probably been said about the study, the response, and the alternatives. If you have been following the issue, but haven’t put through a submission yet, then now is the time to have your say!
The online submission form makes things exceedingly easy, you can address whichever topics you like, to whatever depth you like (none of the feedback fields are required). Submissions close at 5pm
read the full entryLast night was of course, Stop Transit’s Tunnels, a public meeting to inform the public about Transit’s plans, better alternatives and how to influence the process of the Ngauranga to Airport Transport Strategy.
Note: Sorry, its been a busy night, and its 3am….this post will be edited into a more complete writeup with some analysis and supporting material when I get the chance. Check back soon, but in the mean time, here are some (rough) points of what was covered:
Celia, giving a summary of the Ngauranga to Airport Transport Strategic Study
In my last post, I expressed concerns with the light-rail proposal as detailed in the Ngauranga-to-Airport (N2A) strategic study. Implicit in my statement at the end of the post that “I have a hard time getting behind this light rail proposal at this point in time” is the fact that a different time or a different proposal could indeed change my mind.
As for better proposals (or lack thereof), the N2A technical report effectively takes them off the table when it notes (on page 16) the following:
A high quality passenger transport connection between the Johnsonville growth node and the CBD has…
read the full entryThe Wellington urban class really wants light rail. And why wouldn’t they? Light rail is sexy transit…cruise smoothly, comfortably, and quickly to the local tiki bar; no more lurching starts and stops, no more endless waits behind four other buses boarding at the stop on Willis Street, no more fighting with cars for road space.
And so there seems to be a grumbling undercurrent regarding the position of the Ngauranga-to-Airport strategic study report. The report does mention light rail as a possibility, but only as far south as Newtown, and even then it rather clearly leans away from that option. So…
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