15 Apr 2015

Council rejects Wgtn congestion proposals

4:16 pm on 15 April 2015

Two proposals to ease future road congestion in the Wellington region have been rejected by the Wellington City Council.

traffic jam

Photo: 123rf

Last year the Transport Agency proposed to build a new road through the rural Takapu Valley, and to widen the northern motorway through Tawa almost to Porirua.

However, it said the Council's rejections would not have an immediate impact on the project.

City councillor Andy Foster said either of the proposals would cause major disruption to communities, and could have adverse environmental effects.

The Council has put its support behind a third proposal for a road linking Petone and Grenada but said there would also be significant issues to resolve.

The Wellington City Council is just one of the bodies on a regional transport committee which will be making a final decision on the proposals later this month.

The Transport Agency's central regional director Raewyn Bleakley said it would take the council's criticism into the next stage of the project.

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