Transport Minister Steven Joyce says the NZ Transport Agency’s preferred option for the completion of the Western Ring Route strikes a fair balance between the needs of the local community and those of the country and the economy. 

The $1.4 billion proposed route includes building the motorway under Great North Road and in a tunnel under New North Road and under Avondale Heights. The resulting underground sections represent around 60 per cent of the road’s length.

South of New North Road the motorway runs through the Alan Wood Reserve corridor to the west of Hendon Ave. The road will run alongside the long -designated Avondale to Southdown rail link.
 
Waterview Primary School will not be impacted any more than the previous tunnel proposal, as the proposed alignment at the north end of the motorway mirrors that previously proposed.

Mr Joyce says a straight, on-the-surface highway would not have been acceptable to the government when there were reasonable alternatives available that would not have such an impact on the community.

He says this proposed route is about half the price of the previous government’s $2.77 billion two-lane twin tunnel option, and will be future-proofed as it can be easily expanded to three lanes in each direction.

“This is a cost-effective option but it’s still important to note that this will be New Zealand’s most expensive roading project ever by a considerable margin.

Mr Joyce says the completion of the route is essential to the continued growth and economic development in the Auckland region. 

“It will also contribute to better links for business and freight between key industrial hubs in the cities of Manukau, Auckland, Waitakere and North Shore.”

In Parliament yesterday, before the NZ Transport Agency’s preferred option was announced, Mr Joyce fended off questions from Greens’ co-LeaderDr Russel Norman.

One asked if the Minister agreed with Paul Mees, a senior lecturer in transport planning, who was reported as saying Auckland has spent 50 years putting all its eggs in the motorway basket and that “in Auckland you’d think it was the 1950s, from the way the road lobby and the Government carry on?”

Mr Joyce said he believed there are no single-modal solutions in Auckland. 

“We will need both public transport and roading solutions, and this Government is investing heavily in both.”

Asked by Dr Norman why the National-led Government took away the ability of the Auckland region to have a fuel levy that could fund improved public transport, Mr Joyce said the reality is that about 86 per cent of Aucklanders proceed to and from work each day by car, truck, or motorcycle.

He said about 7 per cent of them use public transport, and about 1 per cent use rail. 

“We are committed to improving the investment in all those modes, but we have to have some basis in reality in terms of our investment in the transport sector.”