Far North mayor wants work to begin on new mega-project road as soon as possible

Mayor Moko Tepania said he was keen for work to get under way as soon as possible. Photo / Michael Cunningham

By RNZ

Far North Mayor Moko Tepania is keen to get a four-lane expressway from Auckland under way as soon as possible.

The Government on Tuesday announced plans to speed up the construction of an expressway from Warkworth to Whangārei. Three separate roading plans would be turned into one mega-project to be built as a public-private partnership.

Tepania said he was keen for work to get under way as soon as possible.

“This is something that Northland leaders have been calling for for decades to be honest, so it’s already too late to be honest.

“We’ve seen iterations of the Northland Expressway come and go with successive Governments, both blue and red alike, we’ve finally got it in there, it’s been planned by Northland leaders, it’s now been committed to by the Government – let’s see it happen.”

Problems with SH1 through the Brynderwyns would continue to be a problem until a new road was opened, he said.

“We need to be connected, the wellbeing of the people of Northland is at risk: every single time we have a significant weather event, it puts all of our transport links at risk.”

Transport Minister Simeon Brown has announced the Government will accelerate work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei, including over the Brynderwyns.

Transport Minister Simeon Brown said no decisions had been made on whether the mega-project would be put through the fast-tracked legislation.

“No decisions have been made in regard to particular projects, but fast-track consenting is about saying we have an infrastructure deficit as a country... we need to be able to get consents done faster so we can actually deliver this infrastructure.”

Brown said it was “absolutely” the type of project that would benefit from fast-tracking.

The creation of one project could hasten the completion of the entire design by 10 years, he said.

“We want to get spades in the ground as quickly as possible and this approach is designed to help achieve that.”

A report out earlier this year found building a four-lane expressway from Auckland to Kaikohe could benefit the region by more than $500 million a year.