Roading rage delays city projects

By STUART DYE transport reporter

Work on Auckland's gridlocked roads has taken a back seat under political pressure from angry communities up and down the country.

Auckland has gone from having 18 of the top 20 roading projects to just three, under Transit New Zealand's latest State Highway Plan released yesterday.

The draft plan, released for consultation in January, provoked a backlash from around the country as civic leaders, particularly vocal in Wellington, said they were being overlooked.

Last night, Transit chiefs insisted Auckland's projects were still a big part of the overall plan.

"But as a result of wide consultation on the draft plan, a number of significant non-Auckland projects have been given a higher priority," said acting chief executive Rick van Barneveld.

The top three Auckland projects are the Mt Roskill extension of State Highway 20, the North Shore Busway and the North Shore's Esmonde Rd interchange.

All three are due to start this year.

Auckland Mayor John Banks said he was not unhappy with the proportion of the money, but insisted more funds had to be made available.

"We should not be unhappy with the size of the slice of cake - but the cake simply isn't big enough," he said.

Projects that have taken precedence over Auckland, and are due to start this year, are the Mangatawhiri deviation in the Waikato, the Hewletts Rd flyover in Tauranga and the Wellington inner-city bypass.

Mr van Barneveld said: "The 10-year plan recognises the urgent need to address congestion in Auckland by completing the motorway network.

"A number of major Auckland projects are already under construction and other big projects are included for construction within the next few years.

"Other urban areas and rural highways have not been neglected."

Projects in Hamilton, Tauranga, Napier, New Plymouth, Wellington, Nelson and Christchurch are also included.

Auckland's Mayoral Forum, which has been lobbying the Government for extra money to solve the region's transport gridlock, last night gave its backing to the revised 10-year plan - but said Auckland would still need a special funding package.

The forum chairman, North Shore Mayor George Wood, said Auckland's congestion was costing the economy $1 billion a year.

Just two weeks ago the Government hinted it was considering borrowing billions to help sort out the problems.

Mr Wood said the mayoral forum was battling to win a promise from ministers of special funding for the region.

"It won't necessarily come from Transit's or Transfund's coffers. However, we will need Government support."

Transit's State Highway Plan - a detailed breakdown of the projects to be funded until 2013 - was one of three interlinked documents released yesterday to shape the future of the country's transport infrastructure.

Transfund's National Land Transport Programme declares where funding will go in each region in the coming financial year.

A total of $1.19 billion has been allocated in this year's plan, representing an extra $90 million, or 8 per cent, on last year.

The organisation, which is responsible for allocating Government transport funds, also released its first 10-year financial forecast yesterday.

Described as a "work in progress", it indicates where and how much funding is likely to be available to land transport over the next decade. Transfund says a "substantial amount" of construction funding has already been committed to the central motorway junction in Grafton Gully and the Greenhithe deviation duplication of the upper Harbour Bridge in Auckland and the Mercer-to-Longswamp section of the Waikato Expressway.

Together, the three reports set down the building plans and project financing for the coming decade.

Transport Minister Paul Swain said last night the changes balanced central and regional priorities.

"It is important to develop a nationwide solution to transport infrastructure problems."

Shuffled priorities

The Auckland projects that have dropped down the list are:

SH18 Hobsonville deviation, SH20 Manukau extension, SH1 Waiouru interchange, SH1 Alpurt, SH1 Newmarket viaduct, SH16 Newton Rd to Western Springs auxiliary lane, SH1 Market Rd to Green Lane auxiliary lane, SH1 Harbour Bridge to City, SH20 Manukau Harbour crossing, SH20 Avondale extension, SH16 Te Atatu interchange upgrade, SH1 Northcote to Sunnynook auxiliary lane, SH1 Green Lane interchange, SH16 Te Atatu Rd to Royal Rd six-laning, SH1 Auckland Harbour Bridge stormwater upgrade