End of the road for Transport Choices Ōamaru

Published on 15 December 2023

Waitaki District Council is disappointed to announce the decision by the Minister for Transport to discontinue funding for the Transport Choices programme.

Transport Choices Ōamaru would have seen thirteen upgraded side-road entrances, with flat crossing places for pushchairs and mobility vehicles, between Orwell Street and Stirling Street in the North End of Ōamaru.There would also have been additional refuge crossings on Thames Highway (SH1), and the upgraded of the Harlech Street zebra-crossing to a lights-controlled crossing.

It would also have seen four-way light controlled crossings at the intersection between Thames Highway and Redcastle Road, and the dog-leg intersection involving Thames Highway, Arundel Street and Regina Lane. This would have provided additional safe crossing points, and managed traffic issues which occur at these intersections.

The project was intended to provide students at Waitaki Boys High School, Waitaki Girls High School, St. Kevin’s College, Ōamaru Intermediate School and Pembroke School with safer walking and cycling routes to school. The level side-road entrances would also have benefited older residents, including those at aged-care facilities in the area.

While this project was wholly funded by the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) through the Climate Emergency Response Fund, Council staff invested significant time and effort to bringing this project close to contract.

However, with the Ministerial instruction to NZTA end its work on these programmes, and to not commit any further funding to local authorities, no further progress can be made on these plans.

Mayor Gary Kircher said: ““This was an opportunity to actually do something that would benefit our community significantly, and we weren’t having to use ratepayers’ money to do it! This win:win project has been taken away from us, so the question now is, “What is the government going to do to help Waitaki thrive?”

Joshua Rendell, Assets Operations Manager said: “I was very disappointed to receive notice that the funding for the Transport Choices programme was to be discontinued by the new Government. This project would have resolved both significant safety issues for our kids walking and riding to and from school and congestion for our residents trying to access the highway at peak times from Redcastle Road and Arundel Street. I’m hopeful Waka Kotahi NZTA will continue to work with us to fund these improvements out of another budgets to resolve what is a longstanding and frustrating issue for our community.”

ENDS