Council stalls bus corridor to enable review

Design contracts for a $22 million Auckland City-to-Newmarket bus corridor have been held up by city councillors concerned staff have been racing ahead against orders to review the project.

Deputy Mayor Bruce Hucker criticised council staff yesterday for lining up design tenders before reviewing the scheme in light of residents' concerns about pollution and noise from extra buses, and a day-time ban on cars and commercial vehicles on Grafton Bridge.

The proposed 7am to 7pm ban - approved by the previous council - is to allow up to 1500 buses faster and easier trips each day between Symonds St and Newmarket, past Auckland City Hospital along Park Rd. This will require Grafton Bridge to be strengthened for $2.3 million over at least 12 months, when traffic will face full or partial closures for varying periods. Most of the project cost will be paid for with Government and regional funds.

A bus route along the length of Khyber Pass Rd was initially rejected as being too tight a bottleneck, although the 13,000 cars now using Grafton Bridge each day would have to be diverted that way or across the new Wellesley St bridge.

Trucks are already banned from Grafton Bridge, which requires strengthening in any case to meet a Transit New Zealand standard for spanning its new portbound motorway link.

Dr Hucker reminded the council's transport and urban linkages committee of a call he had made in December, at the committee's first meeting since the local body elections, for staff to report this month on issues raised by the Grafton Residents Association.

He left yesterday's meeting for another appointment before his political team out-voted minority councillors in deciding to delay letting a design contract until a review report could be tabled next month.

Citizens and Ratepayers Now councillor Doug Armstrong said the council was in danger of getting nothing done in its term "except voting to be a zero-waste city".

"If a few residents put up their hands and stop everything for a few years, we will lose financial advantage and won't move this city forward."

But the committee decided to wait another month, after being assured by staff this would have minimal financial implications, and called for a rethink of who would be allowed to use the bridge.

This will include considering allowing Grafton residents and taxis access to the bridge at all times.

Council staff must also investigate what is needed to preserve options for allowing light rail or similar technology along the proposed bus corridor.

Emergency vehicles and bicycles will be allowed on the bridge.

Councillor Penny Sefuiva said not everyone who needed emergency treatment travelled to hospital by ambulance.

She feared they would have to travel along "a very convoluted route" down Khyber Pass Rd.