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Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown is disturbed by revelations that Auckland Transport (AT) has failed to rebuild most of Meola Rd by now and is closing the busy road for three more months.
Last November, AT told residents along the road between Pt Chevalier and Westmere that most of Meola Rd would be “fully reconstructed” by Tuesday this week.
Instead, the road is a mix of rubble and aggregate road base and AT is extending the closure for another 10 to 12 weeks.
The extended closure is supposedly to reduce the time to complete the works, minimise disruption to the community and save $400,000 in traffic management costs, but this line has been met with skepticism in the mayor’s office.
Meola Rd has been narrowed for motorists, and a two-way cycleway is being built.
“I have misgivings about Meola Rd, no question,” Brown told the Herald today.
A senior council officer expressed misgivings about the Meola Rd cycleway and road project costing $29 million and other controversies dogging the transport body, telling the Herald: “They have got to stop doing stupid s**t.”
The source was shocked to learn AT plans 29 raised crossings along the length of the project - 15 on Pt Chevalier Rd, seven on Meola Rd, and seven on Garnet Rd - saying: “That won’t happen”.
AT has begun a review into the number of crossings to reduce the number where possible but has given no details. About half of the crossings are across the main roads and the others across side roads.
AT chief executive Dean Kimpton refused to answer questions about Meola Rd from the Herald following a briefing by AT bosses to councillors at the Auckland Town Hall today.
Auckland Transport chief executive Dean Kimpton refused to answer questions about Meola Rd. Photo / Jason Oxenham.
Asked about the failure to meet Tuesday’s deadline to complete the roadworks, Kimpton told the Herald to put the questions in writing and he would come back by tomorrow afternoon.
The Herald asked the question several times, following Kimpton outside the Town Hall and down Queen St. He repeatedly refused to answer any questions about Meola Rd, saying he would only respond to written questions.
Kimpton is an engineer and former chief operating officer at Auckland Council who was appointed as chief executive of AT in April last year on a fixed-term contract for 18 months.
A source who worked alongside Kimpton at the council said the AT boss was a good people manager, but never got his head around the politics.
He said it’s easy to talk a big game as the boss of AT but you have to deal with local and central government, not to mention the internal politics at AT, and trying to put all those together is probably catching up with him.
AT is planning 29 raised crossings on the cycleway and roading project. Photo / Nicola Lamb
“AT is neither better nor worse under Dean, despite all the positive talk,” the source said.
At today’s briefing at the transport and infrastructure committee, councillor Christine Fletcher said she really wanted to support AT but was constantly spending much of her time dealing with constituents on issues like the ripping up of a pedestrian crossing in her ward and Meola Rd.
“People can cope with disruptions, but they don’t cope with disappointment when there is a failure to deliver on things that are promised... why did you not forecast the timelines accurately when informing the public?” Fletcher said.
“Trust is so very important,” she said, later telling the Herald that AT’s handling of Meola Rd “was absolutely unacceptable and I’m really angry”.
In response to Fletcher, Kimpton said the original closure was for six weeks and the project team discussed with him a couple of weeks ago the opportunity to accelerate the total programme, and reduce costs and disruption by extending the closure.
Councillor Christine Fletcher is angry about Auckland Transport's handling of Meola Rd.
“I have asked the team what have we learned from it and what would we do differently because I recognise the trust equation and I will reflect on that further, councillor Fletcher, before I come back to you,” Kimpton said.
Brown said he was not sure if Meola Rd was a good or a bad idea and compared it to the nearby Great North Rd cycleway and roading project, costing $28m, saying: “I regard it [Great North Rd] as a total waste of money.”
“I do have councillors who think it’s a good idea. Oddly enough I live there and they don’t, and people like me who live there think it’s a dumb idea,” said the mayor.
AT has already spent $5.6m on the project, which has been going back and forth and rising in cost since 2015.
“We’re in this space where the way I want to do things hasn’t really got embedded into AT,” Brown said.
