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Haast-Hollyford road
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Haast-Hollyford road
The Haast-Hollyford road or Haast-Hollyford Highway is a long-standing proposal to link Haast via the Hollyford Valley to Milford Sound and Te Anau in the South Island of New Zealand.
Proposals for the road have been suggested since the 1870s. The road was originally seen as the only land access to the port of Jackson Bay from the Otago goldfields, but it has never been possible to cross the Main Divide to Lake Wakatipu. A road has, however, been constructed north from Lake Te Anau to Milford Sound, which is a major tourist route, and most more recent proposals have focussed on extending this road north. The South Island Local Bodies Association regularly passed remits from the 1950s through to the 1980s in support of a road but the Ministry of Works, a government department responsible for road building during that period, repeatedly stated that such a road was not a priority for funding.
One of the reasons for constructing the road is to relieve tourism congestion at Milford Sound. Currently, most tourists come from Queenstown and this results in a peak of activity in the middle of the day. The final stretch of the current road from the Hollyford Valley to Milford Sound is also subject to many closures during winter, significantly reducing tourist numbers around Te Anau.
Construction of a Haast-Hollyford road would also give tourists an opportunity of seeing far more of the South Island within the same given time. A Haast-Hollyford route would significantly reduce the length of road tourists would travel if they were journeying between Fiordland and the West Coast. A purpose-built scenic drive designed to minimise environmental damage and maximise tourist enjoyment would put Haast only 175 kilometres (109 mi) from Milford Sound;[citation needed] the distance at present is 539 kilometres (335 mi). One proposal has the road 198 km long.
There is significant opposition to these proposals, however, as any road would have to pass through unspoilt land of significant natural beauty; the area is within Fiordland National Park, part of the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage area. Environmentalists strongly oppose construction of the road.
An estimated cost for the construction of the road is NZ$300 million, and it is widely acknowledge that the proposed road would likely be a toll road.[citation needed] The high cost of constructing the road is given as a reason for putting it on an indefinite hold. Furthermore, the $300 million is disputed by opposers to the road. For example, Federated Mountain Clubs has obtained cost assessments from two independent roading engineers, both of whom estimate the construction cost to be at least $1 billion.
The planned routes for the proposed road pass through an area that has had very little in the way of human impact. The area is covered with beech and podocarp forest that has never been logged. There are a number of rivers and lakes along the proposed route.
One of the proposed routes would go through Fiordland National Park and Mount Aspiring National Park as well as the Awarua Point Conservation Area, and would follow the Hollyford Track (a tramping track in the Hollyford Valley).
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Haast-Hollyford road
The Haast-Hollyford road or Haast-Hollyford Highway is a long-standing proposal to link Haast via the Hollyford Valley to Milford Sound and Te Anau in the South Island of New Zealand.
Proposals for the road have been suggested since the 1870s. The road was originally seen as the only land access to the port of Jackson Bay from the Otago goldfields, but it has never been possible to cross the Main Divide to Lake Wakatipu. A road has, however, been constructed north from Lake Te Anau to Milford Sound, which is a major tourist route, and most more recent proposals have focussed on extending this road north. The South Island Local Bodies Association regularly passed remits from the 1950s through to the 1980s in support of a road but the Ministry of Works, a government department responsible for road building during that period, repeatedly stated that such a road was not a priority for funding.
One of the reasons for constructing the road is to relieve tourism congestion at Milford Sound. Currently, most tourists come from Queenstown and this results in a peak of activity in the middle of the day. The final stretch of the current road from the Hollyford Valley to Milford Sound is also subject to many closures during winter, significantly reducing tourist numbers around Te Anau.
Construction of a Haast-Hollyford road would also give tourists an opportunity of seeing far more of the South Island within the same given time. A Haast-Hollyford route would significantly reduce the length of road tourists would travel if they were journeying between Fiordland and the West Coast. A purpose-built scenic drive designed to minimise environmental damage and maximise tourist enjoyment would put Haast only 175 kilometres (109 mi) from Milford Sound;[citation needed] the distance at present is 539 kilometres (335 mi). One proposal has the road 198 km long.
There is significant opposition to these proposals, however, as any road would have to pass through unspoilt land of significant natural beauty; the area is within Fiordland National Park, part of the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage area. Environmentalists strongly oppose construction of the road.
An estimated cost for the construction of the road is NZ$300 million, and it is widely acknowledge that the proposed road would likely be a toll road.[citation needed] The high cost of constructing the road is given as a reason for putting it on an indefinite hold. Furthermore, the $300 million is disputed by opposers to the road. For example, Federated Mountain Clubs has obtained cost assessments from two independent roading engineers, both of whom estimate the construction cost to be at least $1 billion.
The planned routes for the proposed road pass through an area that has had very little in the way of human impact. The area is covered with beech and podocarp forest that has never been logged. There are a number of rivers and lakes along the proposed route.
One of the proposed routes would go through Fiordland National Park and Mount Aspiring National Park as well as the Awarua Point Conservation Area, and would follow the Hollyford Track (a tramping track in the Hollyford Valley).
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