Board Planning Express Motorway Into Wellington

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29239, 24 June 1960, Page 12

Board Planning Express Motorway Into Wellington

(New Zealand Press Association)

WELLINGTON. June 23.

The National Roads Board today accepted, in principle, the need to plan an express motorway into Wellington city. The board emphasised that "much more detailed engineering and economic study must be made, including traffic st idies.” The Ministry of Works, working with the Wellington City Council’s engineering staff, have made preliminary studies of a motorway route from Thorndon to the Basin Reserve via the Tinakori road area. The Director of Roading (Mr P. L. Laing) said about 290 houses would be involved In present thinking on the motorway. Many of them were decadent. The acquisition of land would cost about £2 million.

Mr Laing said an alternative solution of an elevated roadway along the existing quays had been proposed. Overhead roadways.

however, had not worked out well.

Neither of the schemes could be expected to proceed immediately, but it was important that a decision should be made between them in order that lesser works to give traffic relief over the next eight to 10 years could be intelligently planned, said Mr Laing. The chairman of the board (the Minister of Works. Mr Watt) said the Government was directly concerned with the scheme for an urban motorway development for Wellington city. “We are planning a new Government centre and we have got to consider the establishment of an air centre for the National Airways Corporation,” he said. “Our planning for various buildings is dependent on roading requirements for the city.”