The Dunedin City Council approved a draft submission to Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency yesterday about the future of St Andrew St in the central city and flagged concerns about funding and how well the planned new hospital there will integrate with the city.
St Andrew St is set to become pedestrian-oriented and its State Highway 88 status looks likely to move to Frederick St.
The council was told drivers of heavy vehicles would probably be encouraged to use Frederick St, as well as the harbour arterial route.
Cr Andrew Whiley described material provided by the agency to the public about what might happen in the vicinity of St Andrew St as being of limited value, because it was hard to picture.
Holistic planning and presentation of the broader picture were needed, he said.
"Let’s challenge Waka Kotahi to spend money and tell the full story of what they intend.
"When I see this piecemeal and divide-and-conquer mentality, I’m very concerned about what our city will look like in 10 to 20 years."
Cr Christine Garey agreed visual representations or traffic modelling would be helpful.
The agency has said providing this is possible and it rejected suggestions it is unmotivated about delivering strong solutions for Dunedin.
A spokeswoman for the agency said a business case for SH88 would need to consider options for developing St Andrew St and how it might integrate with the wider transport network and land use in the area, including the new Dunedin Hospital.
The agency was "committed to better joined-up, integrated planning".
Cr Jim O’Malley was worried about the network’s ability to cope, when the city was also doing its best to provide a desirable living environment.
"We’re trying to balance network efficiency with liveability and that becomes a significant challenge in a city as spatially constrained as us," he said.
It seemed a lot would be demanded of the Wharf St bridge.
"And effectively we don’t have any options, because the bottom line with this is that we’re underfunded," Cr O’Malley said.
"This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to look at the way traffic moves around in the city and balance network efficiency with liveability.
"If we don’t do this right, we’ll probably achieve neither."
Cr Lee Vandervis was worried about motorists bearing the brunt of efforts to "de-tune" St Andrew St.
Cr Vandervis, who voted against the council’s submission, took issue with a contention only some of the function of St Andrew St should be retained.
He suggested overhead walkways should be considered, because not everything needed to happen and fit in at ground level.
The agency spokeswoman said it and its partners were in the early stages of the planning process.
"No transport network solutions have been ruled out."
Final costs had not been established.
"As we progress through latter business-case phases for the projects being developed, we will know if more funding is required to achieve the outcomes."
