Mayor tries again to stop roads fund

By JASON COLLIE, transport reporter

Auckland Mayor Christine Fletcher has relaunched a bid to stop Infrastructure Auckland spending $90 million on new roads.

The funding authority today releases its draft annual and long-term funding plans detailing how it will allocate $675 million in transport and stormwater grants over the next five years.

But Mrs Fletcher is again trying to have the estimates revised.

The Auckland City Council failed last month to persuade mayors and council leaders on the authority's Electoral College to make public transport - allocated $410 million - the top priority and scrap the $90 million for roads.

But college chairman Sir Barry Curtis said Auckland could make its feelings known through submissions during the plan's consultation phase.

The council move was the first public crack in a regional bid to solve Auckland's transport and stormwater problems.

Mrs Fletcher is now lobbying mayors Bob Harvey (Waitakere), David Hawkins (Papakura) and Heather Maloney (Franklin), who were not at the meeting, and North Shore's George Wood.

She said roading had received the bulk of funding for more than 30 years and it was time to redress the balance.

Transfund and other agencies could pay for roading projects instead of using funds from Infrastructure Auckland.

"I want to see a special meeting of the Electoral College to reconsider this. It would be disastrous to perpetuate the roading bias."

Sir Barry said the $410 million allocated for public transport showed it would get priority. The $90 million would help to pay for smaller roading projects.

"Christine Fletcher would be well advised to leave well alone and recognise that Infrastructure Auckland has made a significant contribution to funding public transport."

Of the estimated $675 million total, stormwater projects will receive $100 million and innovative traffic congestion schemes, $75 million.