Auckland and Manukau councils are close to signing off on a mammoth plan to unscramble gridlock in the eastern suburbs - at a cost. And the rail system's to be improved. Alice Hudson and Andrea Jutson report.
A mammoth transport plan to - hopefully - save the eastern suburbs from gridlock will see hundreds forced from their homes.
The $1.5 billion proposal suggests major changes either side of the Auckland City-Manukau border - new roads, bridges, underpasses, bus lanes, significant road widening - and the end of Panmure's infamous roundabout.
The Auckland Manukau Eastern Transport Initiative, known as AMETI, was concocted as an alternative to the unpopular Eastern Corridor.
Under the new plan, the motorway across Hobson Bay has gone; a few more houses are safe. There's more emphasis on improving public transport and getting people out of cars.
News that the plan is nearing final political approval from the two city councils and the regional transport authority came in a big week for Auckland tranport announcements.
The Onehunga railway line is to come back into service, complete with a new station. Parnell might get a new rail station. Trains may stop nearer the Domain and city hospital.
AMETI planners reckon $300 million will be needed to buy properties.
Officials note many will be sacrificed to widen the eastern side of Mt Wellington Highway, and more for building a new road to Glen Innes.
Panmure's six-road nightmare will be replaced by a four-road junction with traffic lights and bus lanes. More homes will have to go from here.
All up, about 383 properties - 257 residential - will be bought in Auckland City, 70-150 in Manukau.
AMETI will be staged over 15 years to make it more affordable. The first five years include: * A new arterial road under Ellerslie-Panmure Highway alongside the rail line. * Widening Mt Wellington Highway to make room for bus and cycle lanes. * A new route from Quarry Link Rd to Merton Rd. * A duplicate bridge on Ti Rakau Drive over Pakuranga Creek. * Replacing Panmure roundabout.
Consultation with the community is due to begin on April 24. There's plenty for ratepayers and commuters to consider. Here's what people will be talking about:
PAKURANGA/PANMURE Manukau City transport planner Chris Freke disagrees with planning consultants that both sides of Ti Rakau Drive need to be widened. He suggests only 70 houses on Ti Rakau Drive are likely to be paved over instead of the proposed 150.
In light of the current congestion at the Panmure roundabout, news that Panmure Bridge might be reduced to one lane in each direction might upset commuters from Manukau.
Freke says that instead, the Waipuna Bridge will be widened, as will Mt Wellington Highway. Traffic heading through Waipuna Rd to the highway will be given priority lanes, encouraging Manukau traffic to use this route instead of choking the roundabout.
The planned road from Mt Wellington Highway (via Triangle Rd) through the quarry to Merton Rd in Glen Innes will provide a faster route for Botany Downs residents to get to the bays and central suburbs.
The wider roads are also expected to have a flow-on effect for nature-lovers. With Van Damme Lagoon becoming more accessible, Auckland City Council hopes to improve the reserve and make it a popular spot for walkers and picnickers.
When the roundabout goes, Ireland Rd will be diverted from the intersection and a new link between Cleary Rd and Lagoon Drive will provide access from the east. This would carve through part of the Basin Domain. Mountain Rd would also be closed off at the Panmure end. Planners hope this will make Panmure town centre more pedestrian-friendly.
ONEHUNGA/MANGERE Under the $600 million Government plan to upgrade our rail network, the 3.5km branch line between Penrose and Onehunga - opened in 1873 but abandoned by regular passenger trains 34 years ago - will be reinstated.
The regional transport authority will build a new station (no site decided). It's planning for more than 500,000 passengers a year on trains leaving Onehunga every half-hour from 2009. It predicts a run of little more than 20 minutes into central Auckland, compared with bus trips of an hour.
NEWMARKET/PARNELL Ontrack, which owns the rail system, intends to build a new, dual-platform station at Newmarket. It makes running trains every 10 minutes possible when double-tracking of the western line is complete. It also raises the possibility of trains running directly between the West and South.
Boston Rd station may be moved closer to Khyber Pass/Park Rd, near Auckland Hospital. The historic Newmarket station will be preserved, possibly at a new Parnell-Museum station.
The improvements cost $65 million: $25 million from the region, $40 million from the Government. Details: http://ameti.bcmpweb.co.nz
What they think of it MANUKAU MAYOR Sir Barry Curtis says the Onehunga rail decision might have favourable spinoffs for the local economy and get tourists off our roads.
He thinks Onehunga will be revitalised, especially if the station is near the shopping strip, and this can only be good for the town's neighbours across the water. ``I can foresee a shuttle bus running to Onehunga station, taking people out of their cars,'' though he wants rail lines to Manukau in the long-term.
NEWMARKET BUSINESS spokesman Cameron Brewer says the decision to have a new central station in Newmarket is a great outcome. It will be a gateway for the suburb.
RESIDENTS' GROUPS are less impressed. Keith Sharp of Panmure Community Action Group says: ``So far, we have seen none of these proposals, they have only ever been hinted at by the council. The council created the Tamaki Edge Constituents Group years ago to `inform' the community of future plans ... yet they seem to have kept all this information secret from that group.''
Greg Nikoloff of College Rd Residents' Group is also surprised the proposal is so advanced. ``Public input begins in late April. How much notice anyone will take of what the public say is perhaps something to be determined after the fact.''
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