Our Homes Today
Business to Business
Rural Living
Home
News
Sport
Entertainment
Lifestyle
Opinion
Competitions
Photos
Classifieds
Directory
Contact us
Education
Elections 2010
Murder in Burswood
Our Place, Our Name
Anzac Day 2010
UpsideDowns
Times Interview
Our People
Sports News
Ivan's Blog
Arts News & Events
Movie Reviews
Book Reviews
Art Beat
Crosswords
Games
Sudoku
Dining
Leisure
Motoring
Horoscopes
Settling In 2009
Readers' Letters
Maurice Williamson
Pansy Wong
What's On
Send us a Letter
Front Page
News
Sports
Education
Arts & Events
Our People
Sports Events
Special Events
Find a Job
Trade Services
Send your Ad
Classified PDFs
Continuing Education
Directory Listings PDF
View Classified pages
Automotive and Marine
Dining and Entertainment
Home Decor
Professionals
Trade Services
Strictly Bridal 2010
Classified Ads
Employment (59)
For Sale (18)
General Classified (17)
Professionals (20)
Public Notices (24)
Trades & Services (252)
Credits (1)
Real Estate (37)
FEATURES (4)
Directory (6)
News Headlines
Successful policing 'fun'
Chance to meet up
College out of intervention
Abuse trial jury considers verdict
Arrests after car chase
Bank's super-centre
Church showcases old classics
Forty up for boys' choir
NEWS BITES
Bike back in bits
Centre helps community
Con artists hit homes
Ria delights shoppers
Families make mark
Disabled rights - on paper
Driver charged
Young author's winning recipe
Expenses too high? You judge
Three decades in scouts
Time for kids to clown around
News
Call for five year deadline on Manukau road projects
Wednesday, 11 April 2007
By PJ TAYLOR
• Howick and Botany Times
MANUKAU’S political decision-makers are challenging planners to table new and alternative methods of funding and speeding up delivery of projects in the $1.5 billion Auckland Manukau Eastern Transport Initiative (AMETI).
Elected members of the city’s transport committee, led by Dick Quax, have directed managers to investigate how Manukau can build and pay for its $659 million projects in five years. The planners must report back with findings by June 26.
Many at last week’s committee meeting, involved in the region’s two grand scale transport plans for the east since 2002, spoke again of their and constituents frustrations that no works have been delivered in five years.
Councillor and mayoral candidate Mr Quax says he’s had enough of the “talkfest”. He and councillor Jami-Lee Ross query what value for money spending of public funds has been returned from $14 million worth of investigations since 2002 (
Times
, March 15).
When the
Times
last year asked Manukau and Auckland mayors, Sir Barry Curtis and Dick Hubbard, the same question, both stated tax and ratepayers money used for extensive eastern transport studies since 2002 has been appropriate.
“The costs of developing transport improvements for Manukau to date have always included investigating public transport options, traffic management and improving current roads. The dropping of the [Hobson Bay, Auckland] motorway element is a partial change only, so the money spent so far has been productive. It has not been wasted,” said Sir Barry, last May.
Last Tuesday, councillor David Collings also raised questions regarding what has Manukau got for the money spent to date.
In May last year, Auckland and Manukau councils decided to pay long time project consultants Opus another $2.2 million to, among many tasks, define a preferred route between Panmure and Pakuranga, a job which Manukau was billed $440,000.
However, the preferred route now is the same it has been for decades, Pakuranga Rd to Lagoon Dr. Also, the design that Opus and the council’s planners are presenting only suggests widening and adding new lanes to the existing roads.
Another option preferred by planners for increasing and improving road connections to the Howick and Pakuranga peninsula and south-eastern suburbs is to add four new lanes to the South-east Highway (SEH) and duplicate the existing motorway Waipuna Bridge, at a cost of $143m (
Times
, April 2).
Botany and Pakuranga Community Board chairmen, Michael Williams and Ross Warren, also addressed the committee.
Mr Williams calls on council management to speed up the decision-making process for how it’s going to fund almost half of the $1.5b, as it’s negatively costing the city, region and nation’s economic productivity. Mr Williams wants Manukau projects delivered in five years.
Mr Warren spoke of many people’s concerns that Manukau projects, especially those relating to Pakuranga, are set down to start in years seven to 14 in the 15-plus year schedule for AMETI projects.
The transport committee also directed planners and managers to present all alternative options for AMETI projects in Manukau. That includes all potential links feeding the SEH from the Pakuranga Rd, Reeves Rd and Ti Rakau Dr areas.
Planners prefer a flyover at first storey level on William Roberts Rd and a section of Reeves Rd from Pakuranga Rd. But councillors would like to see what public feedback delivers at community information days on AMETI from April 24 to May 5
