The first part of the Wellington Bypass is open.
The bypass is a road extension that adjusts the route of traffic coming through the city, to circumvent some semi-central areas in favour of a more peripheral route. In the process, a historic and vibrant chunk of central city has been turned into roading.
I’ve written about this before (and linked to another’s discussion). The changes to the end of the Cuba precinct (and to Cuba St itself) are profound.
It has been pointed out – most often by Mayor Prendergast and her crew – that the reason for the upper-Cuba-St hippie aesthetic was the artificially low rent due to the Bypass being in question, and that building the bypass simply ends an artificial situation. To which I say, lower Cuba St has its hippie aesthetic just fine without any artificially low rents, thank you very much. If the bypass had been definitively stopped, and rents returned to market levels, the development of that area would have proceeded in an organic fashion and the aesthetic would I suspect have simply taken on a new, more upmarket form. Infinitely preferable to driving a big road through a chunk of the inner city.
Apart from what has been lost, the psychological barrier erected by the new road is already heavy in the minds of Wellingtonians. It worked its way in across a long period of construction. In fact, it’s a relief to have the road open, because it is such an improvement over the construction site we’ve had for the past year. BUt the mental map of every Wellingtonian has shifted to accommodate this new road.
None of this is major. It isn’t as though suddenly I feel dizzy and nauseous when I’m in town. It is however real, and more importantly it is pernicious. This is a significant step away from the kind of Wellington I feel we should have towards one that we should avoid.
All of the above is speculative and subjective. There is no set of facts that could convince a Bypass-backer that the new road creates an unpleasant psychological barrier or squanders the area’s value. However, it is crucial to remember the other side of the coin, which is that the rationale given for the bypass was, and is, nonsensical. The bypass will not significantly improve congestion in the city, as car traffic will expand to meet the available roadspace. The bypass will not improve the productivity of Wellington’s business community, as was so earnestly claimed and debated in the Council Chambers. These claims are, quite simply, ridiculous. And they have cost us $40 million, and one more chunk of the city’s soul.
10 thoughts on “Bypass Has Opened”
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“If the bypass had been definitively stopped, and rents returned to market levels, the development of that area would have proceeded in an organic fashion and the aesthetic would I suspect have simply taken on a new, more upmarket form.”
I can’t agree with this, I really can’t.
In the eighties, even the nineties, areas such as the town side of Mt Vic and Mt Cook had a similar demographic and feel to Te Aro-Aro valley parts of the city.
But, during the nineties, they were developed and gentrified at a great rate, while the Te Aro part did not.
Why not? The vicinity to town and the type of land should’ve seen Te Aro developed before Mt Cook and Mt Vic. The reason why it wasn’t developed was because the primary landowner had no intention of doing anything with the land except bulldoze it for a road. There was no investment because, to Transit, buying the land *was* the investment.
I honestly feel that opposition to the bypass route based on “preserving the culture of the area” was self-defeating; because it *was* the proposed road that created the conditions for that type of resident to stay in the area long after Mt Vic and Mt Cook had become too pricey.
By all means discussion about “do we need these roads” and the incredibly pedestrian-unfriendlyness of this new route is very important, and it’s a shame it had to be built in such a disruptive way. And, opened as it has without any beautification so far done makes it a very bleak and depressing part of the city.
But, I’m sorry, arguments abotu preserving the aesthetic could never hold water, especially in a such a small and compact town as Wellington.
Quite aside from my cultural and political attitudes, as both a pedestrian and a driver in this city, the bypass makes no fucking sense whatsoever to me.
I don’t know that Mt Cook and Mt Vic have been gentrified. They’re pricey to live in – yes. But if you look at them, they’re still a collection of predominanatly wooden houses that have an aesthetic of their own. And take a look at Tasman street – in many places still full of older, run-down wooden buildings with a very studenty feel. There hasn’t been widespread bull-dozing and development in either suburb. And I bet that if someone tried building a motorway through Mt Vic there’d be a hge uproar about protecting the character and aesthetic of the suburb; and it’s likely to be more successful because more of the residents are landowners with property rights, rather than less-wealthy renters.
Not to rant at length, but one of the complaints of the anti-bypass campaign was that Transit had purposefully allowed the old builings to become run-down as it strengthend Transit’s arguments that the buildings lacked any kind of value. Had those building been owned by anyone other than transit, chances are that more of them would have had work done on them and been preserved in some way rather than allowed to rot to pieces. The anti-bypass campaigners weren’t suggesting that there not be any development of the area at all.
And while I still think that ‘preserving the culture of the area’ is a valid argument, it’s worth noting that it was only one of the arguments propounded by the anti-bypass campaigners.
Bypass schmypass Morgan, I want to hear about *important* issues, ones that have real substance and value, and affect me directly. Like- how was the Shihad concert? Was it a day of tiny triumphs? Don’t let me spend a week now in despair….
Bypass schmypass Morgan, I want to hear about *important* issues, ones that have real substance and value, and affect me directly. Like- how was the Shihad concert? Was it a day of tiny triumphs? Don’t let me spend a week now in despair….
The Shihad gig was incredible. In my top 3 ‘had gigs. The encore with the Datsuns tipped it over the top.
There is more to come on this subject, but not just yet…
Wish I could have made it. Preferable to lying on the couch with a tummy bug any day 🙁
Obviously not being there I can’t see it, but I heard that the bypass actually does make traffic run more smoothly from the basin through to the tunnel. And, isn’t it removed enough from the central part of the city, that the old tunnel access route area will now be able to become more pedestrian friendly?
Yeah, it definitely improves traffic flow. I don’t think it makes much of an improvement, but I guess we have to wait until traffic levels get up to full post-Xmas speed to find out.
The old Vivian St onramp will now be the Vivian St offramp. The old Ghuznee St offramp will now become a two-way street, IIRC. In theory there should be less traffic along here allowing easier access from Cuba Mall to Cuba St, but I’ll wait and see on that.
🙂
Bypass: waste of time and money that will only move the traffic jam somwhere else.
Still, the rollercoaster ride it provided into the terrace tunnel for the last couple of months was fun