Eastern Highway could cost drivers $2.50 toll

11.45am

Motorists throughout Auckland as well as taxpayers are likely to have to dig deep to pay to free up the city's increasing traffic nightmare.

Yesterday, details of the preferred route were released for the city's proposed Eastern Highway to link the downtown city area with eastern suburbs and take the pressure off the increasingly congested motorways.

However, it came at an estimated cost of nearly $4 billion, which Auckland mayor John Banks said would have to be met by a combination of taxpayer funding, and a public-private partnership which would build the roads and charge tolls.

Mr Banks said the toll would be electronically collected and could be $2.50 but not for the entire route.

However, Mr Banks also indicated tolls could be collected on other roads to pay for Auckland's overdue roading network, including the Auckland Harbour Bridge.

Mr Banks said international consortiums from China, Singapore, Australia and London were at yesterday's announcement and were working with local authorities on how to pay for the new route.

"I see it as a combination of Government funding and private sector funding. I have no doubt it will form part of the tolling network for isthmus Auckland.

"It will be a toll road," Mr Banks said today.

"It is an on and off toll road. People will start on the 27km stretch in the south and only 8 per cent will end up in the central business district, so it will be electronically tolled in sections"

Mr Banks said it was too soon to say how much the toll would be but in Sydney and Melbourne road tolls were around $2.50.

"It is pretty reasonable and we see it as viable."

He said it was estimated the corridor, which would have four traffic lanes, three rail tracks and two bus lanes, would be full in 20 years, making a public-private partnership a well-assured economic viability.

"We are going to have to seriously consider congestion tolling in Auckland across the isthmus but we can only do that when we have first-class public transport options.

"We are spending $300 million on the North Shore bus lanes -- $300 million to run a bus lane right up to the top of North Shore from Britomart to Albany.

"It would be crazy if we didn't restore the toll on the harbour bridge. Restoring the toll would give people a positive incentive and a very compelling choice to get out of their cars and into that public transport."

Mr Banks said a harbour bridge toll would produce $70 million a year.

He said the mix of funding, including the taxpayer contribution, had yet to be established. However, the Government was highly unlikely to say it wanted nothing to do with the funding.

"The Eastern Corridor forms part of network completion for Auckland. It is a matter for us to do some number crunching to see what the Government would fund through Transfund and Transit (New Zealand) and what the private sector would see as a good rate of return in a public-private partnership."

Mr Banks said the gridlocked Auckland roads cost the country $1 billion a year in wasted fuel, delays and resources.

Mr Banks said the opponents to the proposed Eastern Corridor were "small in number and centred mainly around a few selfish, vested-interest property owners".

He said "most of their spin will go" if the preferred option was a tunnel under Parnell at the city end as an alternative to a bridge across Hobson Bay.

Richard Lewis from the Stop the Eastern Motorway group (Stem) said the plan was not economically viable and would be "an environmental disaster".

He said the group would legally challenge the motorway and drag the fight through the Environment Court for a long time.

Mr Banks said: "He can say that but I think you might find the Government is proposing changes to the Resource Management Act that will be helpful to Auckland's major roading projects."

The vast majority of people living in Auckland would support the corridor, Mr Banks said.

The corridor will link Manukau and the central business district in a route which takes it east from the city, either across a bridge over Hobson Bay or a 3.5km tunnel under Parnell.

The Hobson Bay bridge option is estimated to cost $3.3 billion, while the tunnel option could cost up to $3.9 billion.

Under the plan more than 1000 homes would be demolished, although homeowners have been promised a fair market value for their properties.

A steering group including representatives from the councils and Transit New Zealand, will consider the recommendation and decide on the next step in April and May.

- NZPA