Wellington City Councillors made a grave error when they accepted advice from Officers to approve the new $58m bus and cycle lanes along Thorndon Quay. The advice that Officers gave Councillors was grossly deficient for three reasons:-

1. Officers did not tell Councilors about the underlying water-mains. 8 major watermains lie under Thorndon Quay. 2 of these are over 100 years old. Council Officers were advised (via Let’s Get Wellington Moving) that some of these pipes either must or should be replaced as part of the roading project. Officers did not inform Councilors of the condition of these pipes when seeking approval for the project. 
2.   Officers grossly underestimated the economic impact of these roading changes on local businesses.
    In 2021, 1500 people petitioned Council to do an economic impact study but Officers recommended that Councilors reject the petition. They said that the $1.3m of car parking revenues would only reduce by $32k p.a. In fact, they have reduced by as much as $750k.p. a Pedestrian foot counts are down by up to 80%, cafe revenues are down by 40%. Businesses were only supposed to suffer disruption for 12 weeks. In fact, the disruption is slated to last for 18 months and most likely much longer. Wellington’s water infrastructure is in crisis.The attached image shows new roading infrastructure being built above a 110-year-old sewer,
3. Safety data relied on by Councilors was based on advice that was not independent and free of bias. A company called ViaStrada Ltd was engaged to prepare various reports used to develop the strategies and business cases used to justify expenditure on cycleways. Officers of this company were also, at various times, officers of the cycle activist organisation Cycle Action Network. This dual interest does not appear to have been disclosed to Councilors. The consequence of this is that data is perceived to have been interpreted from a position of bias. If this data had been objectively interpreted, adequate safety improvements could have been made at a fraction of the cost of the current project.

Currently, over 330km of Wellington’s pipes need replacing. Wellington Water estimate that in 10 years' time the amount of pipe requiring replacing will have increased to 560km. Spending $58m on a nice to have but non-essential cycle and busway in preference to replacing pipes is a poor prioritisation of scarce Council resources. Council will say that other water projects take priority - but those projects aren't having a $58m roading project being built on them. Those projects aren't causing severe economic harm to the local businesses.  

Please click on the link below to view a short video that demonstrates that the existing clearway provides a superb avenue for commuter cyclists to ride along. Do we need to spend $85m to improve on this?

    https://share.icloud.com/photos/006huwo1iIEJIQidiCr1OMr5Q

If customers can't access the businesses along Thorndon Quay, then those businesses can't afford to pay their share of infrastructure upgrade. LETS STOP THIS POOR ALLOCATION OF PUBLIC RESOURCE!

Please click on the QR below to sign the petition. And please share! share! share!