Source: Radio New Zealand
Lower Hutt businesses say they’re swiftly losing cash, and one’s shut up shop, as roadworks roll on in the city centre.
Authorities are sorry for the disruption, but say the work is essential.
Hutt City Council, Greater Wellington Regional Council and the Transport Agency are running multiple projects to future-proof service infrastructure, improve flood protection, develop the CBD and improve transport connection.
The obstacle course of road cones and closures has caused gridlock and delays, and now businesses are bearing the brunt.
A chunk of the work involves ripping up a roundabout at the Queens Drive/High Street intersection, which began on 2 March and will run until December, shutting the road.
RNZ / Mark Papalii
Jinuka Paranavithana runs Lakdiv Supermarket right on the roundabout and said there was a slump the day the works began, with takings down 50 percent.
The cluster of shops in the area are now effectively tucked down a dead end.
Paranavithana was not confident the supermarket would last until the works were completed, so he was looking for leases elsewhere and could be forced out to Naenae.
A few doors down, Raquib Gondal had already shut his kebab shop for good.
RNZ / Mark Papalii
He also reported a 50 percent drop in business, saying only the regulars would pop in, once a week at best.
“I feel really bad, because when I bought this business … I’ve taken all the money from my friends and family and we gathered the money … just to have a secure kind of income,” he said.
Gondal didn’t want to close, but he was getting into debt, he said.
“Opening it for longer, it will be … really a disaster for me.”
Another stretch of High Street is shut for four weeks, right outside City Green fruit and vege shop.
Owner Patrick Gao said he was only just hanging on, also reporting 50 percent less takings.
RNZ / Mark Papalii
“I’m not making enough to pay my bills, my rent, my wages … tough going,” he said.
He may have to consider closing, but thinks he can stick around another month or two, with the community behind him.
Gao put out a plea on social media on Tuesday, asking for local support to help get him through.
On Wednesday morning, Rachael Trudgeon answered the call, and walked out of the store carrying a box full of produce.
RNZ / Mark Papalii
She urged others to do the same, noting the deserted street.
“Just get out there, support our local shops that we have here, especially the small business owners, they are struggling so we want to help them out as much as we can.”
Across the road at cafe Espresso High, barista Rane Magno said the cafe was definitely quieter with a lack of parking.
RNZ / Mark Papalii
“Nobody wants to drive in this corner of the Hutt any more,” she said.
“On the flip side, we’ve been able to see how our community’s really supported us, and our regulars have come in and made their efforts.”
Works essential for Hutt resilience
Many spoken to by RNZ believed the roadworks were necessary but it was too much all at once.
Lower Hutt Mayor Ken Laban said there was not much council could do.
“I can’t take people’s pain away, if I was … affected by the business, or I was stuck in traffic trying to get mum to the hospital for her appointment, equally I would be frustrated and angry and all of those kinds of things.
“We are just trying the best that we can to minimise the disruption, but this is a hugely inconvenient time for everybody.”
RNZ / Mark Papalii
The work included a “once in a generation upgrade” of flood defences to protect the city, including the hospital and thousands of homes, said Laban.
Greater Wellington Regional Council transport committee chair Ros Connelly said disruption was certain no matter how the work was carried out, and the parties involved had chosen “the most efficient work programme from a cost perspective and also from a logistics perspective.”
“We absolutely understand that the roadworks are disruptive and we’re really sorry for the impact that this is having on businesses and commuters.
“But unfortunately, the works are essential to improving safety and flood resilience and reliability for everyone who uses the road.”
Once the work was done, the city would be better protected and connected, Connelly said.
The transport agency said it was continually considering whether the work could be sped up, and there would be night work in some places.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
