Lack of funding threat to Hobsonville bypass

Spiralling road costs threaten to delay a link in the proposed western ring motorway route around Auckland - a 5km bypass of Hobsonville - and have raised jitters further away.

Although Transit NZ hoped to start building the $141 million road next summer, the agency told the Auckland Regional Land Transport Committee yesterday that there may not be enough Government money available.

This is despite good progress on two other parts of a four-lane Upper Harbour Motorway, a duplicate bridge and a 5km stretch through Greenhithe to the Albany Highway.

Transit regional manager Richard Hancy also acknowledged a risk that possible cost increases on the planned Southwestern Motorway extension through Mt Roskill may spell trouble for linking that road to the Southern Motorway at Manukau.

His agency is already under pressure from the Auckland Regional Council for an early start on a $1 billion link through Avondale to the Northwestern Motorway, after saying it would take until 2010 to designate a route and win planning approvals.

Concern about Hobsonville was raised by a regional council staff report of advice from Government funding agency Land Transport NZ that there would be limited money available after paying for the tolled motorway extension to Puhoi.

"The Hobsonville Deviation is likely to be the next major project to be affected by the limited funds and may not be able to be funded in 2005-06," regional council planning and policy director Craig Shearer said in the report to yesterday's meeting.

Mr Hancy confirmed Hobsonville could be a casualty of a funding shortfall, even though it was to have been the next project on the western ring route after contracts are let for the Mt Roskill and Manukau motorway extensions.