Dear John,
One of the biggest issues facing the Hutt - and Wellington - is transport. Congestion chokes our city, and we need better public transport, more resilience, and a safer network.
It's my privilege to be National's Transport Spokesperson. On Wednesday, Judith Collins and I launched Wellington's Transport Package in Petone hosted by the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce at Tekron.
We chose Petone deliberately. The Esplanade should be the jewel in the crown of the Hutt but it is just full of cars and trucks, even outside of the morning and evening peaks, and the interchange is a major choke point.
Here are the details of our plan for the Hutt that we intend to deliver over the next decade:
- The Petone to Grenada Link Road.
- The Cross Valley Link Road (as a state highway, fully funded by government not the Hutt Council).
- New Melling Interchange
- New grade-separated Kennedy Good intersection
- $300 million for new trains on the metro commuter rail network
- Completion of the Hutt Valley to Wellington Walking and Cycling Link
- The Eastern Bays Shared Path
- Four-laning SH2 from Silverstream to Whakatiki St in Upper Hutt, with a new Moonshine Bridge.
- Investigations into extending the Melling train line to Kelson/Belmont, four-laning SH58, Haywards-Stokes Valley Connector, Silverstream Interchange, and a second access into Wainuiomata.
In Wellington, we will:
- Fast-track construction of a second Mt Victoria Tunnel
- Construct a second Terrace Tunnel
- Fix congestion at the Basin Reserve through grade-separation
- Build Rapid transit between Wellington’s CBD and airport in the form of rapid buses or trackless trams
- Remove highway traffic from Wellington’s inner-city streets by undergrounding SH1 through Te Aro
This is a huge package for Wellington. You can read all the details of our plan here. It is fully-funded from National's huge $31 billion national transport spend over the next decade. We have costed it, we have funded it, and we will deliver it.
I can't wait to get started!
What do you think?
Chris
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