Businesses in the Horowhenua town of Shannon are “devastated” over major roadworks they say will halve traffic coming through the thoroughfare town for the next six months.
A safety upgrade being planned by Waka Kotahi means from January 9 southbound traffic can come through Shannon on SH57, but northbound traffic from places like Wellington will have to detour through nearby Levin.
The Horseman’s Café owner Alan Windle says, like many other local businesses, at least 85% of his custom comes from people passing through, and he’s not sure how the town will survive the next 6 months.
“Shannon is a passing-through town. You’re going somewhere when you hit Shannon but it’s a stop-off point, whether you’re fuelling up, grabbing an ice cream or having a coffee. It's going to make a huge impact with one lane on the highway closed, it's virtually going to halve business.”
Windle says many of his regular customers are truckies who’ve told him they’ll have to avoid the town altogether even if they’re heading south, as the works will make the road too narrow.
“They're not going to be coming anywhere near here even at great expense to these transport companies for the extra mileage ...the arterial routes aren't suitable for trucks so they’re sending them up to the highway that can cope.”
Toy Circus owner Paddy McIvor says the plan has come at a tough time, with many businesses like his still recovering from the impacts of Covid-19.
“We all haven’t really survived Covid … so it's just a real kick us while we're down already.”
Shannon Four Square owner Corey MacMillan says though he has local customers, about 70% of his business comes from passing traffic.
“No doubt we're going to have to lose staff. It could be three, four staff members, which is the worst thing as an employer you want to do but you need to be able to stay profitable.”
NZTA Waka Kotahi Regional Relationships Manager Linda Stewart says the work is necessary to make the road safer.
“SH57 is an important route in the region but it does have a history of serious crashes which have left six people dead and 12 people seriously injured since 2015 which is not acceptable”
“The safety improvement works will include widening the road, will include side barriers in certain sections and also widening the centre line.”
Stewart says there’s been plenty of public consultation over 2020 and 2021, but some business owners dispute that.
“We first found out about it as a well-known Shannon business when a representative of NZTA came in as a client the week before Christmas and handed me these pamphlets and let me know the news,” Windle says.
“I can’t see how we were consulted and how we were in the loop. If they have done something they’ve certainly missed main street Shannon out.”
MacMillan says Waka Kotahi’s claims businesses were consulted is an “absolute, 100% lie”
“I’ve got no recollection of that … we all want safer roads but talk to us to get it done where we stay viable, businesses stay open and jobs can be kept.”
It’s not just Shannon residents concerned about the works. Horowhenua District Councillor Sam Jennings says Levin can’t cope with the extra traffic.
“There is going to be motoring madness around Horowhenua and particularly in Levin. It’s probably going to be the biggest choke-point in New Zealand with an extra 10,000 vehicles heading through the centre of town every day," Jennings says.
He says some of those extra vehicles will include farm vehicles that are too large to travel on any other road.
“We can expect massive farm vehicles, tractors, 5-metre-wide onion harvesting machines, huge trucks, all sorts of agricultural vehicles. It’s going to be really challenging for them to navigate through the middle of town.”
Stewart says while Waka Kotahi sympathises with residents, it’s sticking to the planned works.
“We hear you and we do appreciate your concerns … this is the best option to ensuring all road users and road workers remain safe and work is undertaken as efficiently as possible.
SHARE ME