Auckland Council under fire over east-west road

It is unacceptable that this year's budget only offers to continue investigating the east-west link, business lobbyist Tony Garnier told councillors yesterday. Photo / NZH

Auckland Council is under fire from business groups to speed-up work and funding for an east-west road freight corridor between Mt Wellington and Onehunga.

They want the council to give the same priority to the east-west link as the $2.86 billion city rail link that Mayor Len Brown is aiming to start building in 2016.

It is unacceptable that this year's budget only offers to continue investigating the east-west link, business lobbyist Tony Garnier told councillors yesterday.

He was presenting a submission on the council's budget on behalf of the National Road Carriers, which says freight volumes will increase by 80 per cent in Auckland over the next 20 years.

Mr Garnier quoted comments by Prime Minister John Key last year that freight congestion in Neilson St between Onehunga and Southdown was unacceptable, and part of the Government's next major transport focus in Auckland.

The south-west link is an extension of the Ameti roading project - a series of roading and public transport projects for southeast Auckland. It is planned to be built north of Manukau Harbour.

The National Road Carriers and Auckland Chamber of Commerce want the council to commit to building the east-west link by 2021 - the same completion date set by Mr Brown for the rail link.

In a written submission on this year's proposed budget, chamber of commerce chief executive Michael Barnett said the absence of any funding reinforced its concern at slow progress on the east-west link.

"We note that considerable council resource has been allocated to the city rail link, a project with similar 'highest priority' status as the east-west link...we strongly encourage council to address this imbalance," he said.

Meanwhile, the Employers and Manufacturers Association has criticised the projected council debt of $12.6 billion by 2022 and urged it to reduce its running costs and capital investment.