The number of people signing the online petition is slowly growing since it was started on change.org by Christchurch woman Rachel Gillard-Tew two weeks ago.
A similar petition was launched seven years ago by former Rangitata MP Andrew Falloon.
Meanwhile, public opinion as voiced on The Ashburton Courier Facebook page shows many believe the road is in a poor state and installing four lanes would improve it.
However, some said there were more pressing priorities, such as getting a second bridge for Rakaia, or spending the hundreds of millions required not on roading but on hospitals and passenger rail.
‘‘Let's get the Southerner cranking first,’’ said one commenter.
‘‘Nice to have on our wish list but more pressing issues to deal with at the moment. Keep it on the list for the foreseeable future though. In the meantime a couple of extra passing bays would be great,’’ said another.
‘‘Our hospitals are more in need of this money at present and the government are putting a lot of money into a new ferry which is needed,’’ said another.
Minister for the South Island James Meager recently said the Government needed ‘‘to do the work’’ to see how a four-laning project would stack up, but his focus at this stage was on getting Ashburton’s second bridge constructed.
