Source: ACT Party
Bay of Plenty-based ACT MP Cameron Luxton is welcoming NZTA’s decision to reconsider sections of the planned continuous wire median barriers between Katikati and Tauranga.
“This news will come as an enormous relief for residents I’ve met. While it is difficult to say exactly what pushed NZTA to make this announcement, it’s clear the fierce advocacy and protest of the locals has been effective,” says Mr Luxton, who joined affected residents at the Katikati War Memorial Hall last night.
“As a locally-based MP, I was contacted by residents tearing their hair out over the prospect of being blocked from turning right out of their roads.
“Residents of affected roads would have been forced to drive kilometres down State Highway 2 in the wrong direction to find a roundabout before turning around. This could add thousands of kilometres of annual travel for regular commuters.
“On 6 June, I wrote to the Transport Minister about this issue, and the median barriers were a major topic raised at ACT’s public meeting in Tauranga last week.
“While I understand it is difficult for a Minister to intervene in operational decisions that have already reached the implementation phase, it appears NZTA has one way or another got the memo.
“Today’s news will be disappointing for residents near where barrier installation is set to continue, such as those living on Wright Road. So as a community we’ll need to hold NZTA to its commitment today to continue to ‘consider the concerns raised by the community with the current design’.”
