My Account
While attendees at a public meeting on the Matakana link road fought hard to persuade AT to build four-lanes from the outset, a Warkworth transport planner continues to maintain four-lanes is madness.
Bevan Woodward says four-lane roads are fundamentally “traffic sewers” – noisy, unpleasant to live on, unpleasant to walk or cycle alongside, and dangerous for pedestrians to cross.
“Go into Albany and have a look at the traffic sewers down there. Is that what you want for our region?” he says.
And Mr Woodward believes that if we keep caving in to pressure for more roads, then the demand for them will never end.
He suggests road advocates won’t stop at four lanes. They will eventually start insisting the Matakana link road is extended on to Matakana itself, or even Omaha.
He says to fix this problem New Zealand must wean itself off its “addiction to cars”, which he regards as unsustainable, and leading to high rates of carbon emission and obesity.
The answer, he says, is to create more opportunities for using public transport, walking, cycling and ride-sharing.
Moreover, Mr Woodward believes the One Warkworth Business Association is greatly overestimating the demand for the Matakana link road.
He says One Warkworth has down-played access to the new industrial zone from Goatley Road and Clayden Road, has ignored the impact of public transport and incorrectly identified the link road as the principal road to access Snells Beach and Algies Bay.
