Opening of Final Stage of Burwood/Woolston Expressway

Tuesday 29 April 2003

Welcome to today’s opening of the “missing link” in the ring road system.

With the opening of this section Bexley and this area is now a fully fledged part of the city transport system.

It’s also now hopefully a neighbourhood where some of the traffic pressure on Bexley Road will have been relieved.

Today I guess for a politician, I’m in good mental shape,………. that is, I’m only in two minds about today’s official events.

My petrol-head side is of course delighted with completing this $16 million road system that will help both light and heavy traffic move more efficiently.

My human side can’t help but reflect that while we have helped speed things up we have also made major changes to what was for many years a very quiet part of town.

It’s an issue that as a city we have to make up our minds about soon, how far we go to make life easier for motor vehicles without ruining our fairly unique way of life.

We want a city that works on the traffic flow front. Every time I go to Auckland I get reminded of just how bad the results can be when you do get those calculations wrong.

This stretch of roading was badly needed. The evidence can be found in the fact it got a Civic Trust Award for doing it so well on so many fronts.

The ring road has been a project that has made the best of the dual demands of a city that is growing both economically and socially.

Today is hopefully the final piece of the puzzle of how we balance moving around Christchurch without stressing the city centre with the trading reality that products need to pass through here on the way to Lyttelton.

I’ll close on this thought, brought about by seeing all the other major works underway about town on the way here.

I’ve never seen so many bulldozers and diggers.

It’s a far, far cry from the stagnation of the 80’s in Christchurch. Our problems are growth problems. Ultimately, that’s not a bad set of problems for a city to have.