Chris Hipkins is expected to announce details of an improved busway on the northwestern motorway. Photo / Dean Purcell
Chris Hipkins is expected to announce details of an improved busway on the northwestern motorway. Photo / Dean Purcell
More work developing Auckland’s northwestern motorway for buses is understood to be a key project in the Government’s spending priorities on transport, being released by Prime Minister Chris Hipkins today.
It is understood Hipkins will pitch the project as a follow-up to the hugely successful Northern Busway, and a project that can be delivered in shorter timeframes to Labour’s ambitious and decades-long light rail and new harbour crossing projects, costing tens of billions of dollars.
Hipkins will release the Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Transport in Auckland this afternoon with Transport Minister David Parker.
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins is making another visit to Auckland today and is expected to announce plans to improve the northwestern motorway for buses. Photo / Jason Oxenham
It will be his third big policy announcement since the weekend, albeit the GPS is a formal Government document, unlike his previous two Labour Party policy announcements on removing GST from fruit and vegetables, and paid parental leave.
Nevertheless, the GPS signals Labour’s intentions in Government for transport funding over the next three years, and is expected to prioritise a mix of 14 new roading and public transport projects, as well as a major boost to road maintenance.
The Government has already made progress on a $100 million ”pop-up” busway on the Northwestern Motorway, utilising sections of the shoulder for buses and building interchanges at Te Atatū and Lincoln Rd.
It is understood the Government’s plans involve bringing the Northwestern Busway up to the same standard as the Northern Busway, but it’s unclear if this means a busway separated from the six-lane motorway or utilising some of the existing lanes for buses.
Artist impression of Eastern Busway on Ti Rakau Dr between Pakuranga and Botany Town Centre. Photo / Auckland Transport
The Northern Busway is one of New Zealand’s most successful public transport projects, growing from 1.3 million boardings a year after it opened in 2008 to almost eight million before Covid.
The Northwestern Motorway on SH16 has been likened to a giant parking lot at rush hour, with the morning crawl into the city taking up to an hour or more.
It currently has limited shoulder lanes for buses, which merge into general traffic at bridges and other places.
National has promised to build a rapid transit solution - a busway or rail - along SH16 from the central city to Westgate at an estimated cost of $2.9 billion. It expects work to begin in four to 10 years under an equity financing model, ie money from the private sector or the likes of the Super Fund and ACC.
The last National Government upgraded the Northwestern Motorway alongside the construction of the Waterview tunnel but chose not to proceed with plans for a busway, which party figures privately now acknowledge was a big mistake.
West Auckland is the fastest-growing part of Auckland, and a busway is seen as key to unlocking housing and improving transport choices.
Other projects expected to get a push along in the GPS are completing the final stage of the Eastern Busway from Pakuranga to Botany, which is already largely funded; and the Glen Innes to Tāmaki Drive cycle and walkway, with just the last leg to Tāmaki Drive still to be built.
