For some time ongoing roading challenges have been problematic and dangerous for businesses in Kenepuru Drive. In an effort to get action the Porirua Chamber hosted a public meeting for the NZTA to update on the Kenepuru Link Road last November. In attendance were local businesses, Porirua City Council officers, councillors and NZTA.

At the meeting two additional concerns came out of an already snowballing traffic problem. The realisation by business that there was no left-hand turn departing the link road onto Kenepuru Drive came has a big shock. It’s still unknown how this detail was not public and in fact it may never be clear. The second blow for business was that Porirua City Council admitted to having no plan at that time to manage the impact of the Transmission Gully link roads. This blind-sided many of the meeting attendees.

Following that meeting it’s become obvious that the loss of a left-hand turn onto Kenepuru Drive is a disaster that can't be amended. What’s left is how do we achieve a safe and efficient road out of all this. The existing roading problem is serious with accidents and near accidents a common occurrence. Traffic numbers now dictate the times of day businesses can efficiently run delivery services and anyone working with clients coming on or off site is also challenged by heavy traffic and getting back onto Kenepuru Drive. The future problem is managing growth with more traffic coming from the development of the Adventure Park estimated to bring 80,000 domestic visitors to the city, and the development of Kenepuru Landing.

Last Monday the Chamber hosted a follow up meeting for Porirua City Council to update on city centre projects and traffic flows across the city. The meeting concluded with a focused workshop on Kenepuru Drive. Kenepuru businesses were well represented and time was given to noting all concerns with thoughts on how to remedy things.

But while it was an opportunity to communicate issues to the Council the ongoing problem remains – can Council deliver and implement change in a time that is realistic for business? It's worrying when frustrations are at a point that people are looking to relocate their business because Porirua is not business friendly and let’s face it, we need business to sustain and grow our economy.