The proposed freight ring road that would not only remove heavy vehicles off city streets, but would help speed the flow of goods into, around and through the city. Image: PNCC Supplied.
The proposed freight ring road that would not only remove heavy vehicles off city streets, but would help speed the flow of goods into, around and through the city. Image: PNCC Supplied.
Manawatū is a freight distribution hot point
Future developments are expected to put greater pressure on local intersections and arterial routes
The Regional Freight Ring Road is part of the Palmerston North Integrated Transport Initiative
This next step is the Regional Freight Ring Road. Part of the Palmerston North Integrated Transport Initiative (PNITI), this will provide a vital missing piece in the region’s and country’s transport nexus.
In 2017 when the Gorge Road was closed, I could see that without fully considering and planning for Palmerston North’s participation in the national freight distribution network, city roading infrastructure would suffer.
And so it has proved. The constant heavy traffic over urban roads that were never designed to carry such loads is causing them to break down.
Just look at Amberley Ave, Summerhill Drive, Railway Rd, various Ashhurst streets and roading issues in Bunnythorpe. These are all examples of our city streets subjected to regional and national state highway traffic but without any funding to maintain them, let alone improve them.
Completion of the Manawatū-Tararua Highway, the extension of the expressway from Wellington, and KiwiRail’s intermodal freight hub at Bunnythorpe will only consolidate the city’s role as a freight and distribution hot point.
Already the country’s third logistics, distribution and transport node behind the Golden Triangle of Auckland, Hamilton and Tauranga in the north and Rolleston, Christchurch down south, the pressure on our roads is only going to increase.
This is why we need this transport investment asap, starting with an NZTA business case decision.
Palmerston North mayor Grant Smith.
It’s a consideration we have been waiting decades for – included in three of our Long Term Plans over the past 12 years. Currently though, it looks and feels like we are getting nowhere.
The region isn’t even getting its fair share of tax-funded transport investment. Our NZTA road user charges and three-yearly National Land Transport Programme percentages are lower than they naturally should be and like some other regions around New Zealand, we seem to be disproportionately funding Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch metro transport projects.
Greater Canterbury, Waikato and Bay of Plenty have all had recent investment in bypasses and new highways over the past decade and are now reaping the benefits.
Hawke’s Bay and Northland have now jumped the queue as the Coalition Government has promised them highway investment.
My question is - when is Palmerston North, Manawatū and Central NZ going to get its long overdue Regional Freight Ring Road? Not only is this investment crucial for the city, but also for the progress of goods and freight around New Zealand.
The business and logistics sector recognises this too, with plenty of recent industrial builds and commercial activity that are already outperforming the Government’s investment criteria.
Future projects include an additional 70,000sqm space for Foodstuffs along with several other food packaging and coolstore facilities for Palmy and nearby Feilding. This will put even greater pressure on our intersections and arterial routes.
We also need this investment to unlock the potential of our Central New Zealand Distribution Hub - Te Utanganui out by the airport.
This is the only place in New Zealand where road, rail and air connectivity links with three international seaports and two international airports. It also has huge implications for the Palmerston North Airport Masterplan.
Along with a new passenger terminal, this makes provision for 6000sqm of new airfreight warehousing, affecting the Ruapehu Aeropark, the existing Manawatū Industrial Park and Feilding’s Kawakawa Agri-business Precinct.
Now is the time for us to increase pressure for this investment – whether it’s fully funded, a joint venture, or a public private partnership with a mix of Government/NZTA, Local Government and private funding - which could mean a downstream toll bridge across the Manawatū River at Camp Rd.
Whatever the arrangement, the sooner Manawatū's Regional Freight Ring Road is declared a highway of national significance the better.
