A proposed $25 million overhaul of the upper section of State Highway 1 through the Caversham Valley to improve safety and travel efficiencies on the main route south has been backed by a recommendation from Dunedin City Council planners before a public hearing next week.
However, submissions made by about 20 neighbouring residents, potentially affected by the proposed SH1 upgrade and wanting compensation for a possible devaluation of their properties, have been ruled out of consideration because they fall outside the ambit of the Resource Management Act.
The New Zealand Transport Agency wants to amend the DCC's designation to carry out a second stage of SH1 roadworks, to follow on from the $20 million project to make four lanes on the Caversham bypass, scheduled to be completed by August 2012.
A pre-hearing report, prepared by Dunedin City Council planner Lianne Darby and approved by senior policy planner Paul Freeland, has made a non-binding recommendation to commissioners Colin Weatherall, Kate Wilson, and David Benson-Pope to approve the proposal.
The fundamental purpose of the NZTA's proposed SH1 improvement project is to upgrade the traffic route of Caversham Valley Road, the report says.
The NZTA has proposed three options for the development, with a proposed overbridge across SH1 at Lookout Point connecting Mornington and Riselaw Rds the standout feature of the preferred option.
Proposed alterations to South Rd, which could become a cul-de-sac, and existing side-street links to SH1 were criticised in about 13 submissions made by affected Caversham Valley residents, the report noted.
The Otago Regional Council was a sole submitter opposed to the proposed overbridge and the "severance" of South Rd, which would have a detrimental affect on passenger bus commuter links.
However, Ms Darby ruled out a topic in the ORC's submission about the payment of compensation by the NZTA for the change to bus routes.
Commercial considerations fell outside the scope of deliberations by commissioners under the RMA and, as such, the topics were not able to be considered in the report.
The payment of compensation by either the NZTA or the DCC for the taking of land for the proposed works, or any devaluation of residential properties that might occur, were topics ruled out in another 18 submissions, because they "are not considered to be resource management matters", Ms Darby said.
The report outlines how the existing four-lane road is the main route south from Dunedin Central and has a "prolonged crash history".
The route carried about 26,000 vehicles a day and the NZTA application had identified several safety problems.
The relationship between Caversham Valley Rd (between Barnes St and the start of the motorway), the "inadequacies" of sight lines at the Lookout Point intersection, residential properties, and side streets leading off SH1, were all problematic.
These reasons, alongside a projected significant increase in traffic volumes, were the main factors identified by the NZTA for the proposed upgrade, Ms Darby's report said.
"The overall environmental effect of confirming [the proposal] will be positive. The purpose ... is to improve the safety issues and operation of the present road ... any of the three options presented will achieve this goal," Ms Darby states.
Her report recommends the commissioners impose about 13 conditions on the project's designation.
The three-day public hearing starts at 9.30am on Tuesday, in the Edinburgh Room of the Municipal Chambers.
Caversham highway
• Build Riselaw and Mornington Rds overbridge.
• Widen four-laned highway.
• Include cycling and pedestrian lanes.
• Cost: Up to $25 million.
• Speed limit: From 50kmh to 60kmh.
