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The touchy issue of introducing tolls on the revised eastern highway has split the ruling City Vision-Labour bloc on the Auckland City Council and put leader Dr Bruce Hucker at odds with left-wing colleagues.
Dr Hucker was one of three City Vision-Labour councillors to vote with centre-right councillors in favour of tolls on a $1.5 billion super-transport package for Auckland's booming Tamaki River suburbs.
Auckland City's share of the project is $871 million, of which $171 million could be raised by tolls.
Manukau's transport committee has ruled out tolls for its share. A Government study on tolls to beat congestion has been strongly rejected by the public, the Auckland Regional Council has said no to tolls and Transit is showing signs of throwing in the towel for tolling the western ring route.
Councillor Cathy Casey put up a motion to stop work on investigating tolls for the revised eastern highway - a network of new or widened roads, bridges and underpasses between Pakuranga and Glen Innes.
A Labour colleague, Leila Boyle, said tolls would hit the poor hardest, particularly people living in the economically deprived suburbs in Tamaki.
That was unfair when other roading projects in Auckland were being built without tolls, she said.
Dr Hucker said it was important the council explore all options to meet the $171 million funding gap, including tolls. A regional petrol tax was the funding tool that would most hurt people on low incomes, he said.
Three City Vision councillors - Dr Hucker, finance committee chairman Vern Walsh and Penny Sefuiva - voted with Mayor Dick Hubbard, Auckland Citizens & Ratepayers Now, Action Hobson and independent councillor Bill Christian in favour of tolls.
The three were in a minority of nine City Vision and Labour councillors who want to dump the idea of tolls. The motion was lost 12-6.
