Roadworks are underway at the main entrance into Nelson’s Junction shopping centre, but they won’t strengthen the road for use by the city’s eBuses. 

Mark Rosser is Nelson’s foremost advocate for city’s public transport network and has long been pushing for bus access into the busy strip mall. 

When he saw that works had been planned for Cadillac Way – the private access road into the Junction – he wondered if the upgrade might be an opportunity for property owner Gibbons Holdings to provide resilient access for the heavy buses into the development. 

The nearest bus stop to the Junction was about 400 metres away, on the other side of the busy Quarantine Road – essentially inaccessible for those where were less mobile and unattractive for those who didn’t own a car, Rosser said. 

“It’s just too far.” 

His own surveys on social media showed strong public support for linking the centre into the bus network. 

With the new Woolworth’s also slated to open later this year, he warned that shopping demand in the area will only grow. 

“The community is concerned about public transport not being able to get close enough.” 

But Nelson City Council’s group manager infrastructure Alec Louverdis confirmed the Cadillac Way roadworks was resurfacing to address the impacts of increased traffic into the mall. 

“The access to the Junction is narrow and there is no intention for the eBus to access the Junction directly as the buses cannot safely do so,” he said. 

In addition to frequent bus movements introducing safety concerns for pedestrians in the area, the carpark was simply too narrow for buses. 

“The fundamental issue is that the Junction was not designed to accommodate public transport.” 

The resource consent for the Junction was issued in 2008, before the city had a functional bus network. Rosser said that the council should have been more forward-thinking and considered public transport links anyway, highlighting easy bus access to Christchurch malls.

“It was a gross oversight,” he said. 

“They’re supposed to be mitigating traffic congestion and pollution.” 

Louverdis said that the council’s modern planning processes now place “far greater emphasis” on all modes of transport. 

He added that the council remained focused on working with the Junction, and that staff were still exploring other options for public transport access that didn’t include access directly into the development. 

Options could include re-routing the bus down Pascoe Street to provide access for passengers to the Junction via the new accessway behind the Mitre 10 store, as was discussed at the region's joint transport committee meeting in August. 

At that same meeting, the committee supported the possibility of shifting a Nayland Road bus stop closer to the Junction, but it would still be a few hundred metres away and on the other side of a busy road. 

“It’s probably not going to do a hell of a lot more than what we’ve got now, to be quite honest,” Rosser said, adding that the “most beneficial” option would have been a stop inside the Junction. 

“It’s just a shame that the developers weren’t more forthcoming in taking it into account.” 

Local Democracy Reporting approached Gibbons for comment but did not receive a response. 

-Local Democracy Reporting is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air

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