Once the Petone to Grenada (P2G) Link Road is built, there is projected to be an additional 3,500 vehicles using Petone’s esplanade. There needs to be a new purpose built link road between SH2 and the Eastern Hutt. The importance of this Cross Valley Link road has long been disputed, for its low benefit to cost ratio – however once the new P2G road is completed, I believe the benefit greatly increases from having a new route for residents wanting to access Seaview, Gracefield, Wainuiomata and the surrounding suburbs.
The traffic along Petone is already very bad, even without this additional load. The esplanade was never designed for this level of traffic. I want to see us utilise the waterfront area more. More parks, water areas, and hospitality options. Let’s reduce traffic on the waterfront, and find ways we can better utilise the esplanade.