A war of words has broken out between Tauranga Mayor Stuart Crosby and Welcome Bay councillor Bill Grainger over the contents of a letter in which Mr Crosby suggested that $48 million earmarked by the new Government to build the Welcome Bay underpass could be diverted to help fund the Eastern Motorway.
Cr Grainger was unhappy at the suggestion that until the underpass from Welcome Bay was ready to be built in four to five years, the Government could make the cash available to advance construction of the Eastern Motorway, from Papamoa to Paengaroa.
``I don't wear shovelling a bit off to the Eastern Motorway,'' Cr Grainger said.
He said councillors were not consulted on the March 3 letter and he now questions the whole heavy transport justification for the $460 million Eastern Motorway.
Mr Crosby said Cr Grainger seemed unable to understand the background to the letter. The whole scenario behind the suggestion to shift funding was now redundant because of Government's decision to make the Eastern Motorway a project of national significance.
However, at the time the letter was written, strong signals were coming from Wellington that it would be either the central corridor project or the Eastern Motorway, but not both together.
The central corridor project, now renamed Hairini Link, consists of the Welcome Bay underpass, a duplicate bridge, and widening Turret Rd and 15th Ave to Fraser St.
Mr Crosby said council had been discussing progress on all Tauranga's major roading projects and was invited to present options to Transport Minister Steven Joyce. The response outlined in the letter was that both projects could happen together and not compete for funding.
Mr Crosby said it had never been his intention to delay the Hairini Link project by permanently diverting money away from it. The intention was to make sure that whatever money the Government had at its disposal was successfully utilised so that both projects happened together.
He said Cr Grainger failed to understand the basic concept of making the Eastern Motorway happen as soon as possible. The motorway was critical to cementing in place landuse plans for Tauranga City and Western Bay District councils.
He was referring to the satellite city planned to be developed at Papamoa East out to the Kaituna River, and several big business estates in Te Puke and Rangiuru.
``It puzzles me why Bill continues to harp on about this. He needs to realise that life does not just revolve around the central corridor. Other projects need energy.''
But Cr Grainger said the mayor should not have been juggling money which the Government had earmarked for the underpass.
``I don't want anything touched as far as these promises made by the Government.''
Mr Crosby's letter also referred to the possibility that some of the cost of the Eastern Arterial could be funded by tolls. He said that although the council believed highways should be funded by central government, this may not always be possible, so the council supported tolls where it accelerated construction of new highways.
Cr Grainger said the huge over-estimation of usage of the council's $41m Route K toll road should be a pointer to what happens whenever tolled new roads competed with free old roads.
As for the justification for the Eastern Motorway, he said nearly half the freight handled by the port arrived by rail and the majority of that came from the Bay's hinterland.
Of the 13.5 million tonnes handled across the wharves last year, Cr Grainger understands that approximately 30 per cent, and no more than 40 per cent, came from an easterly direction.
The rest came from the Waikato and points north: ``If the majority is coming from that direction, why not favour the roads coming from the north?''
Cr Grainger said the Northern Arterial should get more emphasis.
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