The damage done to State Highway 1 between Kaikoura and Picton has resulted in a wave of discussions about whether we should move State Highway 1 inland:
Proposed highway past Rainbow Skifield
or
Proposed hvia Molesworth track
I’m interested to see how everyone here feels about these proposals?
Personally I can’t help but feel that it’s a bit of a knee-jeck “It’s F****d, this can’t be fixed.”
I’ve also been up both Molesworth and Rainbow, and I consider both to be a vista that could be ruined by having a highway running through them.
On the other hand, how does Wellington feel about transmission gully now?
I posted that under the Molesworth page a few days ago when it was first suggested. I think it would be a great loss to us, but if they can’t/won’t fix SH1 then I don’t see a lot of other (easy-ish) options unless a new ferry terminal is built further south that bypasses that area completely for the major traffic, or the proposed Wanganui to Motueka Ferry gets off the ground.
I think Molesworth would be easier to do than the Rainbow, but either option would require a lot of effort to keep open over winter. Building a whole new road in there somewhere would take a mammoth amount of effort however.
Well there’s a novel idea: ferry from Wellington to Kaikoura?
And yeah I also wonder about the effort in building an entire new road vs repairing a *very* damaged one?
Also are they going to move the railway?
Or how about something like this: (Hey I can dream right?)
Cool idea but the NZ roading agencies and govt aren’t forward thinking enough for something like that.
The problem with a ferry from Wellington to Kaikoura is that there is no suitable port at Kaikoura for the ferry to dock at. Roll On Roll Off ferry’s require very calm water conditions to be safe for loading and unloading.
A ferry from Wellington to Lyttelton could be an option, however it would be an approx 12-15 hour journey, requiring better / bigger ships to accommodate people for such a long time, as well as needing more ships so that the sailing frequency is high enough to match demand.
Using shipping for freight makes sense, however the reason trucking is more attractive in NZ is that it is relatively cheap, and much more convenient as it is point to point.