Tinwald upgrade ‘no substitute’ for second bridge

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from The Press

From local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:

The Tinwald Corridor Improvement project is a poor substitute for the benefits of the second bridge.

Councillor Richard Wilson didn’t hold back on describing the Tinwald project as a poor outcome compared to the bigger-picture benefits of the second bridge.

“This doesn’t substitute for a second bridge,” Wilson said.

Waka Kotahi presented the Ashburton District Council with the plans for the Tinwald Corridor upgrade, which is currently out for tender.

Wilson described it as a “poor outcome” as it’s only a start to addressing the congestion woes.

Wilson believes the intersection upgrade will be beneficial for connectivity but is adamant the major issue is the congestion and traffic flow, which it won’t address.

He questioned how traffic lights will solve anything when the traffic through Tinwald is quite often “any time after 3pm nose to tail”.

Wilson remains concerned about the impact of the up to 10 months of road works on the already congested stretch of road, believing the project could be completed much faster.

“We’ve learnt that wet days no one works. Weekends no one works. A sniff of Covid no one works. Any excuse no one works, what’s in the contract to hold them to account effectively, because 10 months seems a long time.

“You said it could be done quicker, well this piece of infrastructure, there is no reason it couldn’t be squeezed.”

It’s a fixed-price contract, but Wilson said the longer it takes the costs to start to be “borne by our community”.

Other councillors agreed with Wilson that 10-months, much shorter than the 18 months the Walnut Avenue upgrade required, will be too long.

Waka Kotahi's director of regional relationships, James Caygill, said the length of the construction time will be clearer once the work is tendered.

The tender is scheduled to be awarded at the end of May or early June, and then a sod turn and site blessing will occur in early June before construction begins.

The Tinwald project in essence is the same as Walnut Ave – installing lights on SH1 and upgrading the rail level crossing.

Waka Kothai assured the council that the lesson learned from the Walnut Ave project would be put into practice in Tinwald.

The point which drew a wry response from councillors was the assurance KiwiRail has its plans already in place – to the point where its “critical piece of work” is already booked in.

A 33-hour block of line closure for the level crossing upgrade is already locked in for October 7 and 8.

The project design manager, GHD’s Grace Ryan, said the block of line is “the single most critical programme item”.

“KiwiRail has confirmed they are committed to this block of line and has said come rain, shine or anytime short of a national emergency, it will happen.”

The issue at Walnut Ave was Waka Kothai had largely completed its work but there was a gap between this and KiwiRail starting, much to the disdain and bewilderment of the community.

“You will not be in the situation you were with Walnut Ave, where everything looks done and we are waiting for the rail component to be delivered,” Caygill said.

“We know when that rail piece of work is happening.”

Caygill said the object of the project “was never about solving through traffic”.

“I absolutely acknowledge that through traffic is an issue for the community, and an issue for us on the state highway and that is why we have been working together on the bridge business case.

“This isn’t a replacement for the bridge, this is about absolutely improving the connectivity for residents of Tinwald who are severed by that exceptionally busy state highway.”

The second bridge will relieve the congestion and traffic flow, Caygill said, proving a “much better functioning network” but it’s a separate process.