Hobson Bay highway far from dead, says National

National promises to revive Auckland's controversial eastern highway across Hobson Bay, even though city councillors dumped it after last year's local body elections.

The party's transport spokesman, Maurice Williamson, revealed yesterday that the highway remained a crucial link for National in Auckland's roading network.

He assured the Herald it would be built within 10 years of a National election victory, as well as almost $2 billion of missing links in a western ring motorway from Manukau to Albany, and another Waitemata Harbour crossing, at up to $3 billion.

Pre-empting Government scepticism at how National could pay for such transport largess, he predicted that private sector investment would become "the norm" for major projects, particularly a harbour tunnel or second bridge.

The full eastern highway scheme championed by former Auckland Mayor John Banks and his Manukau counterpart Sir Barry Curtis threatened to balloon to $3.9 billion before they pared it back.

Even Mr Banks, who blames the highway plan for his election defeat, told a suburban newspaper last month that bringing it up again would be as pointless as "bouncing dead cats". But Mr Williamson, who said he was an official scrutineer for Mr Banks in the elections, denied he lost the mayoralty over the highway alone.

"He lost as many votes in areas where the eastern corridor wasn't able to be seen or heard."

The Auckland and Manukau City Councils have since begun a year-long study with Transit New Zealand and the Auckland Regional Transport Authority to consider new roads and public transport services in the eastern suburbs, minus a highway link across Hobson Bay.

But Mr Williamson said a need would keep building for what 1950s planners contemplated as a southeastern motorway, saying a population the size of Dunedin's was forecast for developing land south of Botany Downs.

"You are going to have to have routes to get that in," he said.

He said National would require Transit to take over the scheme as a fully state-funded highway, and expected it would use a streamlined Resource Management Act to overcome local objections.

"Anybody who has built or bought in that corridor for the last 50 years has known that's what the land was designated for and if we let the not-in-my-backyard syndrome prevail, Auckland will never build any more motorways," he said.

Mr Williamson compared uncompleted parts of a roading network to a body's arteries.

"If your arteries don't join up, you'd be dead."