High Court dismissal of NZTA's Basin appeal

Subject: Press release by Richard Reid & Associates - High Court dismissal of NZTA's appeal against the Board of Inquiry's report and decision into the Basin Bridge Proposal:

"Our practice welcomes the High Court's dismissal of NZTA’s appeal. In particular, we are pleased that our at-grade solution, the Basin Reserve Roundabout Enhancement Option (BRREO) has passed another stringent test.

The High Court supported the Board of Inquiry's consideration of and conclusion on BRREO. The High Court's attention was drawn to NZTA's own evidence which acknowledged that the flyover and BRREO both "displayed significant journey time savings over the do-minimum scenario, which includes improvements to the Vivian Street/Pirie Street and Taranaki Street/Buckle Street intersections."

The Board of Inquiry recognised that the unique value of BRREO is its transport improvements create considerably less adverse effects on the environment at considerably less cost - in our opinion less than 5% of the flyover's projected $100+ million.

We predict the pathway forward will not be easier for NZTA if it chooses to return with a larger project incorporating the flyover with a second Mt Victoria Tunnel and widening of Ruahine Street. BRREO has already accommodated these projects in its design, as well as Bus Rapid Transit (BRT).

In planning terms, BRREO is years ahead of NZTA and the councils in its integrated transport and urban vision for the city. BRREO is the only practicable and attractive option worth adopting. It makes sense that we are given the opportunity to continue to develop BRREO for the benefit of Wellingtonians and the wider Wellington region."

Richard Reid

25 August 2015

Richard Reid & Associates (RRA):

For the record, this is the fifth transport infrastructure project RRA has successfully prepared an alternative design for. Four of these projects have been NZTA roads of national significance.
We have illustrated a comparison between BRREO and NZTA’s flyover in the above attachment.
The BRREO design can be viewed on RRA's practice website at: http://richardreid.co.nz/project.php?aid=75.

Richard_Reid__Associates_Basin_Reserve_NZTA_v_BRREO.pdf

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