The National Party is promising to build the Petone to Grenada Link Road, including the Cross Valley Link, if it’s part of the next government.
The project is expected to cost more than $1 billion and will make journeys between the Hutt Valley and northern Wellington about 10 minutes faster and 7 kilometres shorter.
The proposed Link Road will be a new 80km/h four-lane road with two lanes in each direction divided by a barrier down the middle and is likely to be six lanes where the road is very steep at Petone so faster moving vehicles are not held up.
“Building the Petone to Grenada Link should be a key priority for the region. But the current Labour Government has failed to prioritise transport,” National Party leader Judith Collins says.
“What we’ve seen instead is commuters in this region slapped with fuel tax after fuel tax, a muddled Let’s Get Wellington Moving announcement and state highway funding cuts that saw the plans for Petone to Grenada effectively cancelled.
“For too long Wellington has been trapped in a cycle of talking but not delivering on transport. The region is choked by congestion. This needs to change. A National Government would get on with the job and deliver the Petone to Grenada Link Road,” Collins says.
“The Petone to Grenada Link Road would significantly add to regional roading resilience in Wellington, while unlocking productivity and commercial opportunities for the Hutt Valley. It would ease congestion for residents of Ōhāriu and the Hutt traveling to and from Wellington,” she says.
National’s transport spokesperson Chris Bishop says the project “will provide another route to and from the Hutt Valley when SH2 is blocked or Wellington city when SH1 is blocked”.
“It will also open up future residential or business growth opportunities by making Porirua, Wellington and the Hutt Valley better connected.
“This is a vital project to unlock the economic potential of Wellington. It will provide a route between Seaview and Tawa and will include the Cross Valley Link. It will provide a link to Transmission Gully and reduce pressure on the current highway system from the North,” Bishop says.
