Prime Minister John Key has done well to announce that his Government will invest $10 billion to improve the transport facilities in Auckland.
Speaking to guests at an Auckland Chamber of Commerce meeting held at the Sky City Casino on June 28, he said that the package would cover a number of projects, including a rail loop, a tunnel under the Waitemata Harbour and a series of state highway upgrades.
He said that the investment would be a part of the ‘next generation of major projects that would be required to develop and improve transport in the country’s biggest city.
However, his decision to commence the rail link in 2020 pushes Auckland Mayor Len Brown’s plan by many years.
Mr Key admitted that this would disappoint most residents but said that the start-up would depend on two factors, namely, a rise in employment in the Central Business District and an increase in the number of commuters.
“I realise 2020 is not what the [Auckland] Council is wanting, but while we may differ on timeframes, there is clear recognition by the Government that the project will be needed to address access to the Auckland CBD and improve the efficiency of rail,” he said and agreed that construction of a tunnel would be the ideal option for the second harbour crossing. The New Zealand Transport Agency will confirm the preferred alignment over the next six months.
“A new harbour crossing may become a necessity between 2025 and 2030. The Auckland Harbour Bridge is one of the most critical transport links in the country, but growth forecasts showed that demand would soon exceed capacity. ‘Despite recent strengthening, limits on the weight loading capacity of the clip-ons means heavy truck access may need to be increasingly managed from around 2021,” he said.
Writing in Indian Newslink (March 15, 2013), Mr Brown had said that the Harbour Bridge is Auckland’s most infamous example of botched future planning.
“Auckland has always exceeded population projections, passing major population milestones in advance of expert projects and expectations. Combine that with on-going under-investment in infrastructure and a legacy of decision making stymied by parochial attitudes, it is no wonder Auckland is facing some significant challenges. Experts recommended six lanes with footpaths on both sides of the bridge. The bridge authority decided to go ahead with five, and central government scaled it back to an ‘austerity bridge,’ with just four lanes and no footpaths.
“It opened in 1959. With rapid growth on the North Shore, by 1964 it was carrying traffic volumes not anticipated until the mid-1970s. Just 10 years after it opened, clip-ons’ were added either side,” he said.
While we understand that the Government has to weigh a number of options and consider critical factors including finance, the need for an early solution to the growing traffic problems in Auckland cannot be over-emphasised. Almost every road and motorway experiences gridlock during peak hours of every single working day, and according to experts, the time spent on roads and traffic junctions leads to thousands of hours of loss in productivity.
But it is also a fact that Aucklanders do not patronise the public transport system, questioning its frequency and reliability. Planners believe that there should be a change in the attitude of people, with better use of buses, trains and ferries, in addition to carpooling.
Everyone does not agree with this view. Some say that our buses are overcrowded.
Mr Key acknowledged that bus crowding and congestion coming into the CBD was also an issue to be addressed on priority and that the Government would make funding available in the next Transport policy Statement to address it.
He also announced the combined Auckland Manukau Eastern Transport Initiative and East-West link. The area between Onehunga, Mt Wellington and East Tamaki is home to a number of industrial and logistics business that make a critical contribution to the Auckland and national economy, he said.
The central and local governments should work together to examine the possibilities of bringing forward projects that would solve the transportation problem in Auckland.
