Motorway faces 35 years of tolls

A difference of opinion over the size of tolls for trucks and motorcycles has created an unexpected sideshow along the  path towards tolling Tauranga's $450 million eastern motorway.
New Zealand Transport Agency's board has recommended to the Government that the planned new motorway to Paengaroa should be tolled for up to 35 years.
But the smooth progress towards tolls struck a hitch yesterday when the board, meeting in Tauranga, heard different views on how much trucks and motorcycles should be charged.
It followed the independent commission recommending a $5 toll for heavy vehicles and no charge for motorcycles.
Agency staff disagreed, saying tolls should remain at the amount that went out for public consultation - $4 for heavy vehicles and $2 for motorcycles.  The commission and staff agreed the toll for cars should be $2.
The tolls will be set by the Government through an Order in Council.
No decision on charges for trucks and motorcycles was made yesterday.
Tolls will service a debt of $100 million on the 17km section of the 22km link from Te Maunga to Paengaroa. This section from Domain Rd to Paengaroa will cost $310 million.

In another departure from what went out for public consultation, the eastern link's project manager Andrew Scott asked that the decision should anticipate a future tolling point between Domain Rd and the planned Papamoa East interchange, programmed to open in 2026 - or whenever development started on the new satellite city in Papamoa East.
Otherwise, traffic using the 4km from Domain Rd to the interchange would get free use of the motorway because the proposed single tolling gantry was midway between the Kaituna River and Paengaroa.
The commission said equity issues had been raised by submitters around why a substantial new population at Papamoa East should not pay, particularly because the development  relied on the eastern link being built.
Commissioners said a second tolls gantry between Domain Rd and the interchange should be kept under "continuous review".
Mr Scott did not believe that tolling the section to the Papamoa East interchange would have affected the outcome of public consultation on tolls.
The agency pitched its tolling proposal on getting the eastern motorway built sooner rather than later. With tolls, construction could start next year. Without tolls, it was five to 10 years away.
Ninety-three per cent of the 3539 submitters supported the tolling proposal, with more than 80 per cent offering unconditional support.
The commission's case for no tolls for motorcyclists was based on the comparatively low impact of motorcycles on the environment and roads.
However agency staff said motorcyclists equally shared the benefits with other light vehicle users of tolls bringing forward construction of the road.
Staff also noted that Auckland's northern gateway toll road was now consulting on charging motorcycles the same as cars.
Mr Scott said a $5 toll on heavy vehicles would shift about 7 per cent of trucks on to the existing alternative route, putting an additional 180 heavy vehicles a day through Te Puke. While it meant fewer trucks were projected to use the motorway, the extra dollar would increase total toll revenue by 6 per cent.
 He said the $4 toll was justified by the link bringing twice the benefits to heavy vehicles as light vehicles. Travel time was the key determinant on which route motorists would chose.
Tolls could be adjusted down to whatever the agency wanted, Mr Scott said.