Kaiapoi Meeting Dislikes Plan For Northern Outlet

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28936, 2 July 1959, Page 13

Kaiapoi Meeting Dislikes Plan For Northern Outlet

People fiom in and around Kaiapoi who crowded into the small Kaiapoi Borough Council chamber last evening to hear Ministry of Works engineers tell them about proposals for the northern outlet from Christchurch decided by 27 votes to 17 that a motorway with limited access would not best serve the needs of the district. The meeting, called by the Mayor of Kaiapoi (Mr C. T- Williams), heard the District Commissioner of Works (Mr A. E. Clark), the assistant district engineer (Mr R. Lancaster) and Mr G. C. Suggate, of the Regional planning Authority, outline proposals for the northern outlet Discussion was lively at and at least one-third of tha people there spoke, some of them several times.

Mr Williams said the proposals affected Kaiapoi to “a very great degree” as it was the largest settlement between Christchurch and Blenheim.

He said the proposed first stage . route from north of the Belfast hotel, across a bridge over the Waimakariri river upstream from the present bridge would not meet the needs of present-day traffic. “Access from the motorway to Kaiapoi would be poor, indeed, and it would be of no use to traffic to and from Kaiapoi.” “Neglect ef Road”

, He said the motorway proposal was causing some neglect of the present road. “The road could be r widened to a four-lane highway Belfast and Kaiapoi with little trouble.” ■ Mr Williams said the motorway would be a State highway and the cost of maintaining the present road would be “thrown back on to the local bodies.” A motorway would cause disruption of cross traffic unless there were plenty of overhead bridges. It would also disrupt traffic from the countryside to the west of Kaiapoi, he said.

Mr Clark said the present weekend traffic on the main highway north of the Waimakariri river would be the regular veek-day traffic in 12-15 years. He said there were acute traffic problems on the main north road between Chaneys settlement and Woodend, particularly at weekends and holiday times. ■ Intersections caused most of the difficulties and at times traffic “backed up six miles” and it took an hour to drive from Woodend to Chaneys.

The problem could not be tackled piecemeal. Traffic tallies had shown that the greatest con-

gestion occurred on Sundays and on fine days during the summer holidays. Mr Clark said that on weekdays 6000 vehicles crossed the Waimakariri bridge. This was stepped up to 12,000 to 13,000 on holidays and to 18,000 on special occasions. \ ’ The volume of road traffic in New Zealand was rising' rapidly, and the ratio of motor vehicles to people was increasing.

< 15 Years He said widening the Waimakariri river bridge and the present road to four lanes would be only good enough for 15 years. It had become obvious that alternatives giving a greater life expectancy were needed.

A motorway, being the shortest possible route between two points, had twice the capacity of an allpurpose road with the same number of lanes, Mr Clark said. During discussion, Mr H. O. Hills said it it would be 15 years before the motorway would be in operation something should be done about the Waimakariri bridge. He said local businessmen wanted good access to the proposed motorway. “We have no idea of obstructing the proposal, but we want to get proper access from Kaiapoi to the surrounding districts and to Christchurch.

To a question about what would happen to minor roads wheh tht motorway was constructed, Mr Clark said the present roading

system would not be interfered with. There would be no level crossings, but important intersecting roads would be carried over or under the road.

Answering a question on movement of stock on farms severed by the motorway, Mr Lancaster said there would be subways and bridges crossing the motorway, but each case would be considered on its merits.

Mr Clark said as soon as lines of the proposed motorway were fixed by the National Roads Board “we will be in a position to let you know where people stand.” Mr C. Morgan Williams Said the proposed motorway would have “very limited utility to Kaiapoi. “A lot of good agricultural land will have to be taken for the motorway. It seems a wicked waste to use such land for a road when there are already existing roads.”