Fast-track highway plan spurs warnings

By BERNARD ORSMAN

The controversial eastern highway is entering a new phase amid warnings that politicians are taking financial and other risks by rushing to complete the $460 million project.

Auckland and Manukau councils are contributing to $13.2 million planning and environmental studies, including alternatives to the proposed six-lane highway from the city through the eastern suburbs to Manukau.

This follows an initial study into the project published in August, which recommended four lanes for traffic and two lanes for buses, cycle and walkways, along the 27km eastern corridor.

The highway will destroy about 300 homes in Pakuranga, Mt Wellington and Manukau and pass through environmentally sensitive areas such as Hobson Bay, Orakei Basin and protected mangroves in Purewa Creek.

Senior council officers have warned their political bosses that the timetable they have set for the next phase is extremely tight and carries major financial and legal risks.

Auckland City's transport committee yesterday voted to go with the timetable that gives companies just 20 days to tender for the next detailed phase of work and just 12 months to complete the work.

City Vision and Labour councillors opposed the study, saying the $13.2 million would be better spent improving rail to the eastern suburbs.

Manukau's transport committee is expected to vote the same way today, with the full council endorsing the decision next Thursday.

Auckland City's director of planning services, Dr Jill McPherson, and Manukau's environmental management director, Leigh Auton, say in a report to the transport committee that the tender process and work timeframes are both "extremely tight" and far shorter than has been achieved for any similar project.

Unless enough time is spent on consultation, exploring options to address environmental, community and transport needs, and peer review work "then the end product will suffer", they say.

Auckland Mayor John Banks said he was absolutely committed to the timeline but indicated he would settle for some extra time to get the planning right.

Transport committee chairman Greg McKeown said it was absolutely crucial that the councils did not rush headlong into the study without a proper brief.

He wants full consideration of community benefits and effects and the impact of the region's rail investments to be incorporated into the brief.

Transit New Zealand chief executive Dr Robin Dunlop, whose organisation is assisting the councils to plan the eastern highway, said yesterday that he had requested a copy of the officers' report on the risks associated with the timetable.

Dr Dunlop said Transit had a lot of experience planning major roading projects and would talk with the councils about the next planning phase.

The eastern highway was not a Transit project and might never be, he said.

The $13.2 million cost of the study will be shared by Auckland City (42 per cent), Manukau (33 per cent) and Transit (25 per cent).

Assuming the councils receive a 48 per cent subsidy from Transfund for the study, Auckland City's share of the bill will be $2.9 million and Manukau's share will be $2.3 million. Transit will pay $3.3 million.

Further reading
Feature: Getting Auckland moving

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