Marlborough District Council Roading Assets - Activity Management Plan 2015 - 2018 SECTION 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY On many roading networks, particularly in urban areas, it is not viable to continue to rely on increased capacity to the road network to cater for unrestrained growth. Options include implementing travel demand management measures to complement the provision of more road capacity. These can include integrated land use transportation planning, the development and promotion of alternative modes of transport and other measures to influence travel patterns. For example, parking centres. Opportunities to implement travel demand mechanisms are limited in regions where there is a low population and limited alternatives to travel via private vehicles. The need for such mechanisms is also diminished where there is little evidence of traffic congestion during peak travel times. Options that can be encouraged in the region should seek to influence the demand for travel, and in particular, to reduce car trips and to encourage more people to walk, cycle, catch public transport, share car trips, and to work, shop and play locally. Urban arterial and sub arterial routes in the Blenheim area are increasingly coming under pressure from increased demand. Some short term peak hour congestion is evident resulting in some loss of trip time reliability. This is particularly evident on the urban State Highway network and the CBD ring roads. Council is again reviewing its parking strategy which includes parking charges and parking zones in Blenheim and Picton. That this will have an effect on transport infrastructure use and this is an effective non-asset solution to manage demand and will continue to be monitored and reviewed from time to time. Council has reviewed its Walking and Cycling Strategy and is promoting not only walking and cycling but alternative forms of transport as convenient means of travel. These can have a real effect and help to reduce the demand for increased capacity of our existing roading network particularly for short trips which account for a significant proportion of total vehicle trips. Further education on trip planning can also assist in mitigating the effects of congestion. The additional traffic volumes, coupled with the more intense peak hour traffic can have an effect on the number of crashes on the roading network. This will continue to be mitigated by investments in capacity and width (for example dedicated to cyclists) in Marlborough. The accident trends as a result of this past and programmed expenditure are expected to be showing downward trends. 1.4.5.1 Financial Contributions Council is managing demand on the road network by ensuring that the costs of growth and development are being fairly met by the ‘persons or activities causing the costs’. Financial contributions are paid by developers to enable Council to fund the carrying out of growth related projects such as seal widening, the provision of new road links and intersection improvements to address road crashes or congestion issues. In addition to the district road contribution developers are also required to meet the specific cost of local road improvements which may become necessary as a result of their developments (eg. the logging industry extraction in the Northbank area). 1.4.5.2 Changes proposed in Level of Service This Activity Management Plan suggests some changes to the levels of service as defined in the earlier versions of the Roading Asset Management Plan and documents to meet current and future demand. These changes were/have been initiated by growth and public request and are as follows: A continuation of the Seal Widening policy on sealed roads exposed to significant increases in traffic, An increase in the renewals of structural bridges to maintain appropriate Levels of Service for these components, An increased input to Traffic Facilities including upgrading signage and road marking to NZ standards, An increase in cycling facilities as proposed by the Walking and Cycling Strategy with the budgets as proposed in that action plan, A continued monitoring and construction of new pedestrian facilities in the form of new and upgraded footpaths and kerb and channel systems, Increase in level of street cleaning service to cater for increased expectations and tourism, Provision of bus shelters as demand increases. 30 September 2014 Page 22 of Section 1