Editorial: Club can't just flag away traffic worries

Residents from a large number of new apartments travelling to work in peak hours can only accentuate that problem if nothing is done to offset the impact.

The advocates of residential intensification were doubtless cheered by the Auckland Trotting Club's announcement of a $205 million residential and retailing village at Alexandra Park. Included in its plan are 231 apartments, part of whose attraction will be their site in the heart of Epsom.

But that very location contains the kernel of a potentially significant downside to the development, as pointed out by Peter Haynes, the chairman of the Albert-Eden Local Board. The development could, he said, create serious problems for traffic and parking.

Much of that potential relates to the proposed village's location just a stone's throw from the intersection of two arterial routes, Green Lane West and Manukau roads. Already, it is one of Auckland's worst traffic choke points.

Residents from a large number of new apartments travelling to work in peak hours can only accentuate that problem if nothing is done to offset the impact. The trotting club seems unfazed. It says issues around traffic have been dealt with. Its project team has consulted the Auckland Council and Auckland Transport "to ensure the traffic corridor is managed responsibly".

It would be comforting to believe the matter was totally in hand. Recent history, however, provides little cause for complacency.

Shortcomings in the Stonefields development at Mt Wellington have, for example, been revealed over the past week, including a lack of carparking and cars parked over driveways. Auckland Transport also inherited problems from Stonefields, not least the intersection of Grand Drive and Abbotts Way becoming a serious congestion point because of the increased traffic volume in the latter. This was neither adequately forecast nor catered for.

There are mitigating factors with the Alexandra Park development. The completion of the Waterview connection may relieve Manukau Rd of some airport traffic. Plentiful bus services and the push to increase bus lanes in areas such as Epsom may also lure some of the new residents out of their cars. To give that a push along, it is intended to restrict each two or three-bedroom apartment to one car park. This is an increasingly common ploy in such developments, but it carries risks with people reluctant to be weaned off the convenience of the private car. Only when public transport is demonstrably superior will that attitude begin to change. Until then, the parking problems at Stonefields are likely to be replicated.

Some improvements will have to be made to the intersection of Green Lane West and Manukau roads. Mr Haynes asks whether the trotting club, which will retain ground floor retail space in the development to provide a sustainable revenue stream, is going to contribute to these.

It is a reasonable question and one that needs to be addressed. A worthwhile precedent was established at the Sylvia Park development, where Kiwi Income Property Trust had to pay for the train station and an offramp from the Southern Motorway. This foresight meant when it opened in mid-2007, many of the problems that could have sprung from such a large-scale project had been negated.

The trotting club sees the urban village development as its saviour. It predicts races at Alexandra Park will boast a minimum stake of $20,000 in five years. That represents a substantial boost for an ailing sport.

The club deserves credit for embarking on such an ambitious project. But that should not preclude a searching appraisal of its implications, not least for traffic.

The same must be true of other similar developments no matter how neatly they comply with the council's wish for residential intensification. Auckland will suffer and the ratepayer will have to pick up the tab if they are simply flagged through.