Going on an overseas trip is usually a fairly pleasant experience. Getting to the Auckland International Airport and trying to find a park is anything but.

As we continue the series on transport issues in Auckland, Richard Llewylyn from the Auckland Airport and Jeremy Harris from the Campaign for Better Transport talk to David about a possible rail link to the airport.

The discussion covers the possible routes and technical obstacles that need to be negotiated before passengers who land at New Zealand’s busiest airport have a fast, efficient way of getting to the CBD.

Also find out what the Auckland Airport Ltd really thinks about a rail station at the airport.

Listen live this Thursday at 9.05am on 104.6 Planet FM or listen online at www.planetaudio.org.nz.

If there’s one thing that will improve the abysmal state of traffic in Auckland, it’s an inner city rail loop.

Not only would it improve transport for those living in the CBD, it would relieve the bottleneck at Britomart allowing more frequent services on the southern and western lines.
Relieving congestion in the CBD would also make a rail line to the airport more feasible.

This week David continues his series on transport in Auckland with a discussion on the inner city rail loop with chair of the ARC Mike Lee and Jeremy Harris from the Campaign for Better Transport.

A study, jointly funded by KiwiRail and ARTA, identified Britomart to Mt Eden as the preferred route with Albert St (between Victoria & Wellesley Streets), K Rd/ Pitt St and Symonds St as potential sites for stations.
If the CBD rail loop is approved soon, it could be completed within seven to 10 years.

Listen live this Thursday at 9.05 am on 104.6 Planet FM or online at www.planetaudio.org.nz Search: Shearer.

Labour MP for Mt Albert David Shearer today urged the Auckland City Council to listen to the needs of the residents affected by the construction of the Waterview off ramp.

“As the local MP, I will be vigorously supporting and getting behind the local community throughout this process.  It is a strong and vibrant community which has been faced with uncertainty for many years due to this project,” David Shearer said. 

In a submission delivered to the ACC hearing on mitigation options for the $2 bllion project, David Shearer said the community has a strong sense of what needs to be done.

“The off ramp at the northern end of Waterview will further isolate the community from the facilities and shopping centre of Pt Chevalier. That is why a pedestrian and cycle-bridge to Pt Chevalier is needed to ensure residents are better connected with their closest shopping area.

“Work has already been done on this by Auckland University and Unitec as it was part of the winning design in a recent urban design competition.”

David Shearer said the wellbeing of children in the area also needs to be considered.

“The air stack of the northern portal needs to be located in a position which has the least effect on school children at Waterview Primary School,” David Shearer said.

“The community has made suggestions on this and should be listened to.

“Metro Football Club will also lose important green space at Alan Wood Reserve and Waterview. These grounds are currently used to capacity.

“It has been recommended that the NZTA and local government should build an artificial football pitch to compensate for losing a well used park and meet an increased demand.

“The community is making a number of strong arguments to lessen the impact of an off ramp cutting their community in two. They must not end up worse off because the Government took the easy option on the Waterview link,” David Shearer said.

Local parks are being demolished to make way for the Government’s new Waterview connection, leaving local families with limited to access to green spaces in their community, Labour MP for Mt Albert David Shearer said.

Today Transport Minister Steven Joyce announced the start of the tender process for the construction of the Waterview Connection, part of the Western Ring Route. At a cost of over $2 billion, this project is clearly going to be the largest this country has seen.

“If the Minister is going to bulldoze Waterview Park, Alan Wood Park and Hendon Park he needs to guarantee access to alternative green spaces. Right now, local residents are bearing all the costs of the new motorway.

“There’s been a lot of talk, but so far no money has been set aside for bridges, other green areas or for local residents.

“The Minister can not ask these communities to give up their local parks – places where children go to play and families spend time together – without providing them with a way to access alternative green community spaces in return.

“Last year in the heat of the Mt Albert by-election Steven Joyce estimated the cost of the project at $1.4 million. Now we find with all the other add-ons he didn’t announce then the project will be $2 billion, and could go higher.

“I don’t think we’ve seen the last of these spiralling costs. How much more is this project likely to cost before it’s finished?” said David Shearer.

I was born and bred in Auckland and have deep roots there. A first class public transport system is vital for Auckland both in terms of anticipated population growth and revitalisation of the city centre. And of course we must have a seamless public transport system to get fans to the Rugby World Cup games.

I was delighted to read the joint ARTA-KiwiRail press release this morning on the preferred route for the CBD rail loop project. This is good news. It is the kind of project that would provide the significant economic benefits that the government supposedly wants from its transport investment.

The cost is roughly similar to the Puhoi-Wellsford road, the benefits are far greater, so why is Joyce not keen on this one? An interesting question when petrol prices are their highest in 18 months.

I can’t believe that Steven Joyce is going ahead with the Puhoi to Wellsford Road of National Significance. It’s nothing more than a holiday highway to get people to the eastern beaches quicker in the summer. Getting the Auckland public transport system ready to cope with the Rugby World Cup next year is far more important. We’ll be a laughing stock when our international visitors find out that a road to allow Aucklanders to have a swim took priority over a first class public transport system.

Here’s the press release in full.

Uncosted Puhoi to Wellsford plan pure road overkill

Awarding a contract for route investigation work on the so-called Puhoi to Wellsford Road of National Significance is an example of pure ‘road overkill’, say Labour’s transport spokesperson Darren Hughes and Mt Albert MP David Shearer.

Darren Hughes said: “This Government is fast making a travesty of the term roads of national significance.

“Transport Minister Steven Joyce’s new definition of a road of national significance is a road of National Party significance. There’s a huge difference.”

David Shearer said: “Mr Joyce is on record as saying in Parliament that one significant reason for building this road is for people travelling to the eastern beaches.

“That does not meet the criteria of national significance. Making it easier to go for a swim is hardly justification for spending goodness knows how many tens of millions of dollars on a road that will have marginal if any impact on the country’s economy, and not for many, many years at that.

“It is significant that Mr Joyce won’t talk in detail about the cost of even this first stage of the contract,” David Shearer said.

“He knows that in the wider context of Auckland transport issues, this project doesn’t stack up. There is a whole range of public transport projects, like the CBD rail tunnel, that offer far greater benefit to Aucklanders.”

Darren Hughes said he was well aware from travelling around New Zealand that provincial areas were desperately worried about the lack of funding for maintaining local roads, let alone improving them.

“These are roads that are vitally important strategically and economically to regions around the country.

“Mr Joyce fails to grasp this reality. He can see the importance of Aucklanders being able to get to their weekend baches quickly, but when it comes to appreciating the crucial significance of local roads to people who are the backbone of this country, he’s missing in action.”

Why is a Holiday Highway a priority?
Mt Albert MP David Shearer is calling for the government to get its priorities right on Auckland Transport.

“National’s decision to fast-track the Puhoi to Wellsford stretch of State Highway One shows the Government is not tuned in to the needs of Auckland commuters,” David Shearer said.

“The Puhoi/ Wellsford road is a holiday highway which is only congested during the summer breaks. I share the frustrations that motorists have when heading north, but $1.4 billion could be better spent addressing Auckland’s major transport problems. And, building a by-pass at Warkworth, could ease much of the problem on that route for a tenth of the cost.

Today’s announcement means important items that all the mayoral candidates have agreed on, such as the inner city rail loop in Auckland, will be put on hold. Auckland sees that as its number 1 priority for Auckland and economic development.

“Steven Joyce’s fixation on building motorways means the real issues around Auckland’s transport network are being ignored. “NZ is building more motorways while most major cities in the world are moving towards other forms of transport. National is taking us in the opposite direction.

“Yes thousands of Aucklanders use the Puhoi/Wellsford road for a handful of weeks to holiday. But they’re also the same Aucklanders who are screaming out for a decent public transport system.”
David Shearer said National needs to take the blinkers off and listen to what people are saying are the real priorities for transport are.

“Aucklanders want their everyday transport woes to be eased. Pouring billions into a holiday highway is not a priority for them,”

John Banks recently wrote in the NZ Herald that Auckland needs an inner city underground railway loop. He joins fellow aspiring mayor, Len Brown, the chair of the ARC, Mike Lee and just about every smart thinking Aucklander in believing that Auckland needs this piece of infrastructure urgently.

So why is the National Party so out of step with the rest of Auckland? Stephen Joyce has instead prioritised roads; the most farcical being the new Puhoi to Wellsford motorway. This $2.3 billion folly will swallow up capital that could make the tunnel and electrification a reality. That stretch of road north of Auckland carries about the same number of vehicles as Sandringham Road. It’s full for only a handful of days a year when everyone tries to go north during the holidays – not even economically productive days. He’s planning to waste $100 million on a feasibility study.

The reason for the rail tunnel is simple. Currently, trains come into Britomart anad have to go back out again on the same lines . The loop would allow them to continue under Queen St, K Rd and then join the line again at Mt Eden allowing for a doubling, at least, of trains going through Britomart. That would increase the frequency of trains and lead to greater patronage – 3 or 4 times more. And, as other countries know, it stimulates growth and vitality in the inner city and ar0und stations. Simple really. Maybe too simple.

The only hitch is that diesel trains can’t use an underground loop because of fumes. That’s a key reason why we should move full steam ahead on electrifying Auckland’s rail. But on this Joyce is vague. Possibly 2013 he says. Possibly? He should forget the holiday highway and invest in what Aucklanders want and need – a first class rail service.

Go to Red Alert if you wish to comment on my post and read the comments.