Delaying toll road unacceptable, says Mayor

Rodney Mayor John Law plans to rark up the Government in the pre-election period to fast-track a $192 million toll road across the Weiti River for the 29,000 people living on the Whangaparaoa Peninsula.

About 500 people attended a public meeting at Stanmore Bay on Sunday to demand a long-term solution travelling to and from the peninsula, south of Orewa.

The meeting followed the completion last week of a $13 million road-widening stretch of the only link from the peninsula to the outside world that caused months of congestion headaches.

Mr Law said widening the main road to four lanes between Red Beach and Vipond Rds would ease congestion for four years.

The council had already bought enough land for the new road at a cost of $22 million, the route was fully designated and all that was now needed was to persuade Transit New Zealand to build it as a state highway.

Transit does not have the project on its 10-year building programme in Auckland.

"As far as the community is concerned, people will not accept any other solution to the toll road," Mr Law said.