Preferred Option For Second City Bridge
Monday, 18 June 2007
City Councillors have approved a preferred option for the siting of the second city bridge across the Manawatu River.
The preferred bridge location is situated between the end of Riverside Drive and Staces Road.
The option was presented to last Wednesday’s full Council meeting which unanimously approved the option in principle and has released the preference for public consultation.
The Council’s consultant, OPUS, explains that, until such time as the route of the rural ring road is finalised and built, the bridge will be linked to Napier Road along Te Matai Road and Riverside Drive and to Aokautere Drive following the general alignment of Staces Road.
Consultation with the public and key stakeholders took place in 2005 and since then a great deal of work has been going on evaluating options for the location of a second crossing of the Manawatu River.
This work has included the assessment of the landscape, social, noise, air quality, ecological, hydrological and archaeological impacts of the various options.
Infrastructure and Projects Engineer for City Networks, Robin Malley, says the bridge and approach routes will provide a much needed strategic high speed, high capacity link between the north and south of the city.
“It will remove much of the through traffic and congestion from the Fitzherbert Bridge and Fitzherbert Avenue corridor while, at the same time, providing improved linkages to the strategic network for the growth areas of Kelvin Grove and Aokautere. The bridge is also a key element in the development of the rural ring road,” he says.
An information open day will be held at the Convention Centre later this month where staff can talk directly with interested parties and individuals or groups directly affected by the preferred route.
Following this consultation OPUS will finalise a Scheme Assessment Report for Council approval and prepare of a Notice of Requirement and relevant consent applications to protect the corridor for future development.
The bridge is included in the Council’s 10 Year Plan and is programme for construction in 2010.
More information is available on the City Council website – www.pncc.govt.nz – including more detailed plans and details of the assessments carried out to date.
