Palmerston North-Manawatu Strategic Transport Study Contract No 2009/18 Phase 2 Report June 2010 PO Box 30 721 Lower Hutt 5040 P: +64 4 569 8497 www.tdg.co.nz New Zealand 10426_1 v2 phase 2 report.doc 10426_1 v2 phase 2 report.doc Table of Contents 1. Purpose...................................................................................................................................1 2. Background.............................................................................................................................2 2.1 Regional Economy ....................................................................................................2 2.2 Current Proposals......................................................................................................2 2.3 Issues for Consideration............................................................................................3 3. Methodology ...........................................................................................................................4 3.1 Road Hierarchy Criteria .............................................................................................4 3.2 Traffic Modelling ........................................................................................................4 3.3 Cost Estimation .........................................................................................................5 3.4 Network Option Development and Evaluation Criteria...............................................5 4. Existing Road and Traffic Conditions ......................................................................................7 4.1 Network Description ..................................................................................................7 4.2 Traffic Volumes and Growth Rates............................................................................9 4.3 Road Standards.......................................................................................................12 4.4 Safety ......................................................................................................................15 4.5 Deficiencies .............................................................................................................16 5. Network Development...........................................................................................................18 5.1 Mt Stewart to Manawatu Gorge...............................................................................18 5.2 SH56 to SH54 Connection ......................................................................................21 5.3 Feilding to Palmerston North ...................................................................................21 5.4 Bunnythorpe Bypasses............................................................................................23 5.5 Eastern Corridor ......................................................................................................25 5.6 New Upstream Bridge .............................................................................................27 5.6.1 Palmerston North................................................................................................................... 28 5.6.2 North East Industrial Zone..................................................................................................... 28 5.6.3 SH3 (North) ........................................................................................................................... 29 5.6.4 SH54 (Feilding)...................................................................................................................... 31 5.7 Access Routes to North East Industrial Zone ..........................................................31 5.8 Rural Ring Road......................................................................................................33 5.9 State Highway 3 Into and Through Palmerston North .............................................34 6. Network Options ...................................................................................................................35 7. Network Improvements .........................................................................................................40 7.1 Do-Nothing Network ................................................................................................40 7.2 Base Network ..........................................................................................................40 7.3 New Upstream Bridge .............................................................................................42 7.4 Bunnythorpe Bypasses............................................................................................42 7.5 Kairanga Bunnythorpe Road ...................................................................................43 Palmerston North-Manawatu Strategic Transport Study, Contract No 2009/18 Phase 2 Report 10426_1 v2 phase 2 report.doc 7.6 Mt Stewart to Feilding..............................................................................................43 7.7 Stoney Creek Road .................................................................................................44 7.8 Ashhurst Road.........................................................................................................45 7.9 Ashhurst ..................................................................................................................45 7.10 Ashhurst Road or Stoney Creek Road Connection .................................................45 7.11 Summary of Improvements......................................................................................46 8. Network Options Assessment ...............................................................................................49 8.1 Traffic Analysis ........................................................................................................49 8.2 Economic Evaluation ...............................................................................................50 8.3 NZTS and GPS Assessment ...................................................................................51 8.4 Ashhurst Road vs Stoney Creek Road ....................................................................53 8.5 KB Road vs Feilding ................................................................................................54 8.6 Levin to Wellington RoNS........................................................................................54 9. Route Assessments ..............................................................................................................55 9.1 Bunnythorpe ............................................................................................................55 9.2 Kairanga Bunnythorpe Road ...................................................................................59 9.3 Stoney Creek Road .................................................................................................59 10. Alternative Modes .................................................................................................................60 10.1 Public Transport ......................................................................................................60 10.2 Cycling.....................................................................................................................60 10.3 Travel Demand Management ..................................................................................60 10.4 Travel Plans.............................................................................................................61 11. Stakeholder Involvement.......................................................................................................62 12. Conclusion ............................................................................................................................66 Palmerston North-Manawatu Strategic Transport Study, Contract No 2009/18 Phase 2 Report 10426_1 v2 phase 2 report.doc List of Figures 1. Existing Road Hierarchy 2. Existing Traffic Volumes 3. Existing Road Widths 4. Mt Stewart to Manawatu Gorge Alternatives 5. Feilding-Palmerston North Routes 6. Bunnythorpe Bypass 7. New Bridge to Mt Stewart Connections 8. New Bridge to Feilding Connections 9. Option 1 Proposed Road Hierarchy 10. Option 2 Proposed Road Hierarchy 11. Option 3 Proposed Road Hierarchy 12. Option 4 Proposed Road Hierarchy 13. Bunnythorpe Western Bypass 14. Bunnythorpe Southern Bypass 15. Bunnythorpe Bypasses. Palmerston North-Manawatu Strategic Transport Study, Contract No 2009/18 Phase 2 Report 10426_1 v2 phase 2 report.doc 1 Executive Summary Aims The broad aims of the Palmerston North-Manawatu Strategic Transport Study are: to develop an integrated transport network for the study area, with a key focus on confirming a road hierarchy to identify the road improvements and develop a programme of works to give effect to the proposed road hierarchy. A Phase 1 Report, dated March 2010, summarised the findings of previous studies and existing strategies, and identified the issues and constraints to be addressed during Phase 2. This Phase 2 report assesses the road hierarchy options and their supporting improvements, and presents a preferred option. Deficiencies The major deficiencies of the existing rural road network within the core study area are: the SH3 route between Sanson and the Manawatu Gorge passing through Palmerston North is inefficient as an inter-regional route