Road toll hindering recreational access?

The new owners of Rainbow Station (Nelson Honey) have increased the road toll by 60%... $40 per 4WD Vehicle $20 per Motorcycle $5 per Mountain Biker Trampers – no charge Additionally there have been ongoing problems with double-charging if vehicles on in-out trips are there for more than 24 hrs. The road has been closed for repairs since October (the first time in 20 years for such a lengthy period). Understandably there are costs to keep the road open but 60% in one hit? An unreasonable hindrance to recreational users and will affect trampers wanting to access the many great tracks along this route. Local tramping clubs, other outdoor groups and Walking Access Commission have been in negotiation with the new owners to improve access but have made no tangible progress over the previous unsatisfactory arrangements.
Are those $ figures the increases or the totals? Personally I'm happy with paying a reasonable toll. I'd be comfortable with say $100 per visit if that pays for the upkeep of all that road and keeps hoon usage down. wrt Rainbow the length of the winter closure is my gripe. All that country locked up for half the year. Whilst we're at it how about a toll on the Mt Aspiring road, Haast Highway and Milford roads? Set a price high enough to make using shuttle busses the cheaper option for visitors. Stop building even bigger carparks at day visit attractions that are immediately overflowing upon completion. Tender out a regular hop on hop off bus service. Use the income to maintain the roads and facilities to a decent standard.
@madpom Those are totals for the 2017 season. 2016 they were: $25 per 4WD Vehicle $15 per Motorcycle $2 per Mountain Biker Trampers - no charge Personally I'm NOT comfortable paying $40 to use that road, especially when it's double that returning the same way at the end of a tramp. We don't even know how much of our money is used for road upkeep. When they talk about "working with Marlborough DC, Transpower and other Government Agencies to enable carrying out road repairs." That seems to indicate it's a (financial) collaboration of sorts.

Sign in to comment on this thread.

Search the forums

Forum The campfire
Started by JETNZ
On 20 December 2017
Replies 2
Permanent link

Formatting your posts

The forums support MarkDown syntax. Following is a quick reference.

Type this... To get this...
Italic *Italic text* *Italic text*
Bold **Bold text** **Bold text**
Quoted text > Quoted text > Quoted text
Emojis :smile: :+1: :astonished: :heart: :smile: :+1:
:astonished: :heart:
Lists - item 1
- item 2
- item 3
- item 1 - item 2 - item 3
Links https://tramper.nz https://tramper.nz
Images ![](URL/of/image)

URL/of/image
![](/whio/image/icons/ic_photo_black_48dp_2x.png)
Mentions @username @username

Find more emojiLearn about MarkDown