On August 19 I made a request to the New Zealand Transport Agency under the Official Information Act for the data the Ministry of Transport used to reach the conclusion in a report to the Minister of Transport that there had been no significant increase in demand or need for a northbound on-off ramp at the Cambridge Southern Interchange’ since 2013.
The already formed entrance from Newcombe Rd, less than 200m from the intersection with Tīrau Rd, could become an on ramp for quarry trucks. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
Peter Nicholl
I received their reply on September 30. It is underwhelming. I had thought that their phrase ‘no evidence of an increase in demand meant that they had evidence and it didn’t support the need for a northbound on-off ramp. But their reply reveals that their use of the phrase ‘no evidence’ is in fact literal – they have no evidence either way. What they said was ‘we determine our position using a whole-of-network approach to the Waikato Expressway and long-term strategic planning, supported by more specific transport planning assessments related to projects or activity in adjacent parts of the network (for example, the recent resource consent for a new quarry).’
I don’t know what that means. They did attach a document that they say supports their position. It is 252 pages long. I haven’t had time to look through it yet – but I will. But if there are things in that long document that support their conclusion I don’t know why they didn’t include them in their letter.
The only data they included in the formal response was for traffic going through the Cambridge Southern Interchange. It hasn’t risen as much in the last 12 years as had been anticipated in the design phase. That is interesting – but it has nothing to do with the question I asked. The two traffic flows I was interested in are, first, traffic from Leamington and beyond who want to travel north. They don’t go to the Cambridge Southern Interchange as it doesn’t allow them to travel north. They have to go through Cambridge to the Hautapu Interchange. The second flow is traffic coming south on the Motorway who want to go to Leamington and beyond. They also have to get off at Hautapu and travel through Cambridge.
They also say in their reply that ‘NZTA specifically designed the Tīrau Road Interchange for southbound movements only so the expressway would not be used for short trips, for example, on at the Southern Interchange, off at SH1B interchange (Hautapu).
Therefore, in order to prevent some people from making a short trip on the Expressway they are deliberately forcing more people who intend to take long trips to go through the middle of Cambridge in order to get on or off the Expressway in the direction they want to go. Why would someone from Leamington who wants to go to the Cambridge commercial area choose to cross the low-level bridge, drive past the golf club, go north on the Expressway to the Hautapu interchange and enter Cambridge from there?
I was also surprised that they made a reference to the ‘recent resource consent for a new quarry’ as an item they took into account in their advice to the Minister. As I understand it, this decision had not been taken at the time they advised the Minister.
I will read the 252-page report to see if it enlightens me more than their letter did.
The intersection of Newcombe and Tīrau roads which submitters say does not provide enough sight for truck drivers. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
