KEY POINTS:
The departmental advisers and bean-counters will splutter to read today that the new government is to unilaterally prioritise roading projects, such as the new Kopu Bridge and the Waikato Expressway.
Like Sir Humphrey in Yes Minister, they will say: "Certainly, Minister, but may I draw to your attention the cost-benefit analyses? And the project evaluation processes?"
Perhaps if they were stuck in the queue of cars on SH1 north of Paraparaumu, or waiting to cross SH25's one-lane Kopu Bridge, south of Thames, they might be more forgiving.
Today is expected to be the busiest day of the year on SH25, but motorists must still endure a bridge that was built in 1927, designed more for horse-and-cart than for modern-day traffic.
Thousands of Aucklanders will be returning home from their holidays on the Coromandel, fractious children sweltering in the back. Others will be leaving Thames Race Day after enjoying a flutter on the horses.
But the Sir Humphreys of the world are not gambling types.
In their first briefing to the new infrastructure ministers, the advisers dispassionately warned of the dangers in the Government planning the nation's priorities for new roads, schools, prisons, and a $1.5 billion ultra-fast broadband network.
"There is a risk that a plan of this type could attract opposition from the private sector, due to a lack of transparency in the project selection process," said the officials in united voice. "To guard against this, it would be useful to ensure that inclusion in the plan is subject to robust and open project evaluation processes."
Well, you could build the new Kopu Bridge out of papier mache with the screeds of official evaluation reports already devoted to it. So, too, with the Waikato Expressway and the Waterview tunnels under West Auckland.
The new Government was elected on a strong and explicit mandate to spend an extra $8.55 billion over six years on infrastructure - and to bring forward $800 million of that spending to stimulate the faltering economy.
The same officials who warn against elected ministers making (heaven forbid) important political decisions do admit the benefits of road spending. They quote an Australian study showing that investment in roading infrastructure could increase GDP by 2.5 per cent over 10 years.
The official bureaucratic formula for road spending includes measures like "x = congestion" and "y = fatalities". It does not include a measure of public had-it-up-to-here frustration. For that, we have elections.
When New Zealand's economic growth has slowed to a standstill; when local councils say they cannot afford new roads and Auckland congestion is estimated to cost the country's economy $1 billion a year; when the construction industry is crying out for work and the Prime Minister is warning of at least 70,000 redundancies - what better time for a new and decisive Government to bring forward some roading projects of national value?
The opening later this month of the Albany-Puhoi Northern Motorway extension - the first toll road in the Auckland region since the Harbour Bridge - will surely demonstrate that commuters are willing to pay $2 if it means spending less time in traffic jams.
In July, the Auckland regional fuel tax will come into effect, paying for the $183 million Penlink road to Whangaparaoa Peninsula and the $1 billion electrification of the Auckland rail network.
The Cabinet is soon to decide whether to give the green light to the 4.7km Waterview connection on the Manukau-Albany western ring route - potentially the first major public-private partnership roading project involving private financing.
Yes, we do need continuing public scrutiny of which roads are tolled, and by how much; scrutiny of the extent to which we allow private companies to own or manage our public roads.
And yes, we do need to pay cautious heed to the impacts on our natural environment of opening the roads to more cars.
After all, scientists say 38 per cent of New Zealand's human-produced greenhouse gases are emitted by road traffic.
But even the most rabid opponent of the combustion engine, or the most paper-bound bureaucrat, could not seriously believe that a thousand idling motorcars waiting to cross Kopu Bridge is a good thing.
