Editorial:: Do it right

OPINION: The Christchurch City Council shows welcome determination in sticking to its plans to build the new bus exchange under ground.

Christchurch will benefit in the long and short term, even if the NZ Transport Agency regards the plan as not benefiting the nation.

The agency has to live within tight budgetary margins and contribute to projects throughout New Zealand, so it is bound to take a conservative view of the exchange. That is especially the case when the undergrounding is expensive, costing $212 million more than the above-ground option. Also, the Christchurch bus system could operate with the cheaper facility.

But the city council is right to take a longer-term view, and one that will give the city the safest and most efficient exchange with the maximum potential.

Undergrounding would do that. It would mean passengers would not have to negotiate entering and exiting vehicles and more buses could be accommodated. Also, the area above could be turned into a park – in the meantime.

Eventually, the area could become the terminus for a light rail system servicing the suburbs and the more distant settlements of the city.

It is that ability to in time construct a central-city all-purpose transport hub that most justifies the CCC's determination to build under ground.

Mayor Bob Parker has committed himself to pressing ahead with light rail for Christchurch. His plan is visionary – not least in the sense that it might be a long time in being brought to fruition – but is welcome for all that.

If followed through, it will mean that Christchurch will not face a major upheaval and additional expense when light rail become necessary. The city will develop with provision made for the eventual deployment of rail as planners are forced to keep it in their sights, which will ease the laying of tracks and the provision of passenger access.

The exchange is central to this long-term strategy, so it must be designed with a capacity to handle the coming technology.

The four avenues and the main roads leading north, south, east and west already form the basis of a grid with potential for tracked transport, but central Christchurch is lacking a suitable terminal for the trains.

The former station in Moorhouse Ave is often touted as capable of doing that but it is old and out of the way. An expanded exchange could efficiently handle light rail in the heart of the city, which would greatly enhance the lives of commuters.

Jim Anderton has spoken for the critics who regard any transport advantages of an underground bus terminal as outweighed by the cost of the project – a cost funded by borrowing. They add to their condemnation the other borrowing that the council is committed to.

At the heart of the criticism is a philosophical dispute: should the cost of projects be added to by the payment of interest and should future citizens be saddled with debt?

The commonsense answer is that prudent borrowing – which is what the CCC is undertaking – is warranted. It means future ratepayers help pay for facilities they use and that the city gets the constant improvements that make it so satisfying a place in which to live.

- © Fairfax NZ News