Plea to delay Northern Motorway

Press, 30 August 1978, Page 6

Plea to delay Northern Motorway

A Christchurch City councillor has asked the Minister of Works and Development (Mr W. L. Young) to reconsider Northern Motorway funding in light of a recent report on reduced car use. That report, prepared for the Minister for the Environment (Mr V. S. Young) said that he likelihood of reduced use should be an important factor in motorway and road planning. “To build a major new read at a time when the future growth of private motoring is in doubt is unneces= sarily hasty and short-sight-ed,” said Cr D. J. Rowlands, who is also chairman of the St Albans Residents’ Association anti-motorway committee.

He asked Mr Young to consider diverting National Roads Board funds from the planned northern arterial road to maintenance work from 1978 to 1981. This winter, SI.2M was approved for the motorway project’s first stage in 1980-81.

“The road will cause immense initial hardship to St Albans residents,” Cr Rowlands said, “and may in the long term be of no more value than employing people to dig holes and to fill them

Such a road should be delayed until its need was proven, he said. The City Council had opposed the road in principle earlier this year, and was trying to get the Canterbury Regional Planning Authority to lift the motorway corridor designation.