By Kira Carrington, Local Democracy reporter
As the new SH1, Kent St will be upgraded to support greater traffic. Photo: LDR
Picton's Kent St is to become the new State Highway 1, to the surprise of some of its residents.
New Zealand Transport Agency / Waka Kotahi has announced that Kent St, which has been a "de facto state highway" during ferry terminal works since 2023, will officially become SH1, with some improvements to suit.
The route bypasses the Nelson Square roundabout and central Picton, taking a more direct route towards the ferry terminal.
Kent St resident Pam Wharehoka, who has lived on the street since 1982, said it "used to be a quiet street".
"Hardly anyone came down [here], kids used to ride their bikes down here. [That] can't happen any more."
When the terminal works started and all the trucks started coming down the street, the children welcomed it, she said.
"The kids used to stand out there and [wave], and the drivers would give them a toot."
Kent St resident Pam Wharehoka says the street used to be quiet before it became the de facto State Highway 1. Photo: LDR
The Interislander ferry terminal moved to Lagoon Rd in 2023, as part of wider works for the now-canned iReX ferry project to accommodate new, larger ferries.
NZTA regional manager of system design Richard Osborne said that ever since, all traffic accessing the ferry terminals had been going down Kent St.
"Kent St has been acting as the de facto state highway. This is one of the key aspects the Picton Road Network Improvements Project wants to address," Osborne said.
He said NZTA was obliged to send a Notice of Requirement to the Marlborough District Council to commandeer the council-owned road.
The road would be maintained by Marlborough Roads, which was responsible for both council-owned roads and NZTA state highways.
The planned changes to the road network in Picton. Photo: Supplied / NZTA
Kent St resident Sue Letchford said the announcement was a long time coming.
"Well, it's been coming for years, but it's still pretty horrible," Letchford said.
She was worried about the safety of students from Picton School, which backed onto Kent St.
Trucks started travelling down Kent St after the Interislander ferry terminal moved to Lagoon Rd in 2023. Photo: LDR
NZTA said it would work with the Marlborough District Council to install a variable speed limit by the school, with a lower speed limit in place during peak school time.
Picton School declined to comment on the changes.
Letchford said she was pleased that the roads would be upgraded to support the increase in traffic.
"Kent St is all right, but Oxford St gets ripped out ... constantly."
Kent St residents had previously complained that the increase in trucks was noisy and "smashing up" the road, which required "major reconstruction".
Kent St resident Linda Andrell said the sounds of the trucks were just white noise to her.
"I've been here a few years now so I don't even [hear it]. Maybe at about 10 o'clock at night you might notice it."
Dean Humphrey said the news was "good and bad".
"We're talking about the [street] parking here ... We're going to be up at the library and have a talk to them about it," Humphrey said, referring to drop-in sessions planned for next week.
The sessions will be held at Picton Library and Service Centre Waitohi Whare Mātauranga on 17-18 June.
Work on the planned upgrades will start mid-next year.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
