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Sapeer Mayron/Stuff
Grace James Rd residents in Pukekohe are worried about plans to turn their quiet residential road into a central urban artery as Pukekohe grows.
On a quiet rural road on the outskirts of Pukekohe, a group of households are rearing up for a fight.
Supporting Growth, a collaboration between Auckland Transport and Waka Kotahi, has suggested their street be earmarked for a main arterial route in the next 10 to 15 years.
It could mean up to 12,000 cars – up to a third of them trucks – on Grace James Rd daily, and local resident Rachel Eshuis doesn’t understand why.
She said she wasn’t against growth, and the community knew their neighbourhood was set to swell to some 30,000 people in the next decade.
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But in 2019, a different route was chosen for this new road, and Eshuis and about 90 other locals want to know why plans have changed.
The old idea is in the Pukekohe Paerata Structure Plan. It entirely skipped Grace James Rd, and locals supported it.
“The residents support an arterial route in the neighbourhood,” Eshuis said.
“It is not often that AT get gifted a transport solution that is supported by the community.”
Supporting Growth’s proposal is for a two-lane northeast arterial road to reduce the number of cars – mostly trucks – moving through the Pukekohe town centre, as well as create new walking, cycling and public transport options.
The proposal also includes plans for northwest, southwest, and southeast arterial routes, as well as several other upgrades in Pukekohe, Paerata and south Drury.
It’s generated concern amongst not only Grace James Rd locals, but farming and business representatives too.
A submission to Supporting Growth, seen by Stuff, said the proposal “fails dismally on many points”.
“It is very myopic in its scope, does not consider the growth of the North Waikato, and certainly does not provide for growth in the Pukekohe area,” the submission states.
Supporting Growth had set December 20 as the latest date for submissions on the project.
Chair of the Franklin Local Board, Angela Fulljames, said the board will be asking Supporting Growth to take a “long-term view” when planning.
“We are willing to work with [Supporting Growth] to address the concerns we have heard from the community about putting more freight and cars onto existing residential streets and getting freight out of the town as much as possible, as well as working with the landforms so that cycleways will also be fit for purpose,” Fulljames said.
“If the voices of the wider community are taken on board, there is an opportunity to create a plan that will work well into the future.”
In a statement, a spokesperson for Suporting Growth said the plans were only proposals.
The final decision will have feedback in mind, as well as reports from on-site environmental and technical specialist assessments which are scheduled for early 2023.
“Public feedback and information gathered during the specialist assessment phase will support decisions to confirm the preferred route options,” the spokesperson said.
“The final route options still need to be determined. The team is continuing to engage with stakeholders and the community.”
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