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Otago Daily Times
6 days ago
- Politics
- Otago Daily Times
Petition to four-lane SH1 grows
The petition aims to get State Highway 1 north of Ashburton turned into four lanes. PHOTO: FILE A petition calling on the Government to reconsider four-laning State Highway 1 between Rolleston and Ashburton had over 465 signatures as of Thursday. The number of people signing the online petition is slowly growing since it was started on by Christchurch woman Rachel Gillard-Tew two weeks ago. A similar petition was launched seven years ago by former Rangitata MP Andrew Falloon. Meanwhile, public opinion as voiced on The Ashburton Courier Facebook page shows many believe the road is in a poor state and installing four lanes would improve it. However, some said there were more pressing priorities, such as getting a second bridge for Rakaia, or spending the hundreds of millions required not on roading but on hospitals and passenger rail. ''Let's get the Southerner cranking first,'' said one commenter. ''Nice to have on our wish list but more pressing issues to deal with at the moment. Keep it on the list for the foreseeable future though. In the meantime a couple of extra passing bays would be great,'' said another. ''Our hospitals are more in need of this money at present and the government are putting a lot of money into a new ferry which is needed,'' said another. Minister for the South Island James Meager recently said the Government needed ''to do the work'' to see how a four-laning project would stack up, but his focus at this stage was on getting Ashburton's second bridge constructed.
Otago Daily Times
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Otago Daily Times
New push to make State Highway 1 four lanes
A petition calling on the Government to reconsider four-laning State Highway 1 between Rolleston and Ashburton collected 85 signatures in its first week. A similar petition was launched seven years ago by former Rangitata MP Andrew Falloon. Canterbury woman Rachel Gillard-Tew has launched the latest petition at While the petition has failed to gain traction to date, both the New Zealand Transport Agency and Minister for the South Island James Meager have not rejected the idea. NZTA hasn't ruled out four-laning the 63km stretch of road in future, but it is not part of its National Land Transport Plan 2024-2027. NZTA regional manager for system design, Rich Osborne, told Local Democracy Reporting the agency was aware of safety concerns about the busy State Highway 1 corridor, as raised in the petition. However, safety improvement works were being planned and undertaken, he told LDR . 'Providing for wide centre lines has been a recent focus of safety improvements. 'This creates more space between lanes and keeps vehicles further apart, which can reduce serious crashes resulting in death and serious injuries. 'Recent work has included widening of the southbound shoulder of State Highway 1 south of Rolleston, between Dunns Crossing Rd and Burnham Rd, to install a wide centre line.' Further improvements planned over the next few years include building a second Ashburton bridge, a Rolleston access improvements project, and a new roundabout at the Burnham Rd/Aylesbury Rd intersection. Rangitata MP Meager told LDR the idea of four-laning needed to be re-evaluated. 'We need to do the work to see how it stacks up - the last time anyone looked at it seriously was in 2017, before Labour came into government,'' Meager said. 'My main focus is getting construction started on the second Ashburton bridge and making progress on our other major South Island roading projects.' Gillard-Tew said the potential for ''devastating accidents'' was increasing by the day on the stretch of highway as it became busier. 'The lack of safe intersections and an adequate median barrier makes this highway section particularly perilous,'' she said. 'The need for immediate action is clear and compelling.' The petition is available here.
