Flyover focus for political fight

Jonathan Coleman and Don Brash are keen on the flyover proposal but would leave the final decision up to Transit NZ. Picture / Martin Sykes

Long-suffering North Shore motorists should be able to get a cure for traffic jams without incurring a massive rates hike, says National Party leader Don Brash.

A flyover at an Onewa Rd traffic choke point is favoured by the Northcote Residents Association but the North Shore City Council says this would cost $25 million more than its favoured scheme and ratepayers would have to pay the difference.

Dr Brash backed a flyover of the Sylvan Ave intersection during a site visit yesterday with National's Northcote candidate, Jonathan Coleman.

Faster road access to downtown Auckland is shaping up as a major issue in a hot contest for the seat, held by former North Shore and Birkenhead Mayor Ann Hartley, who is the Deputy Speaker.

Dr Brash said that under National's formula for allocating the $1.6 billion in petrol tax expected to come Auckland's way over the next decade, the $25 million would be made available for the Onepoto flyover.

However, he added that whether the flyover was built depended on the priority it was given by roading agencies, not the Government.

He believed it was Transit New Zealand's responsibility to deal with such a major traffic issue rather than ratepayers.

Dr Coleman, a general practitioner, said the flyover would help the many residents for whom commuting on buses was impractical.

Mrs Hartley said National was practising pork barrel politics at its worst and should leave roading decisions to Transit and the city council, which had both discarded the flyover option.

"In a nutshell, it's about a group of residents who believe that because they live seven minutes from town you should be able to get on to the Harbour Bridge in three to four minutes."

She said Transit made 28 per cent of Harbour Bridge capacity available to traffic coming on from Onewa Rd and this was a fair allocation. "Not one more car will get on the bridge because of any flyover."

Residents association secretary Brian Plimmer said the push for a flyover was not motivated by national politics. "It's the pent-up frustration of motorists trying to get their road back."

Mr Plimmer said residents were cut out of the loop when the council and Transit decided to favour buses over other Onewa Rd users.

"They still won't answer our questions about how they arrived at the figure of $25 million extra for a flyover."

When rejecting a flyover last month, the council's infrastructure committee chairman, Tony Barker, said an extra $25 million represented a rates rise of 20 per cent.

The flyover would do little to ease congestion because cars would still need to merge to one lane before entering the motorway.

North Shore Mayor George Wood said yesterday that the council had Transit New Zealand committed to a "reasonably good solution" to the problem on Onewa Rd.

Transit planned to widen the Onepoto Stream Bridge and include a bus lane to give two lanes heading down Onewa Rd and across the Northern Motorway to merge with its southbound lanes.

"Design of the Onewa interchange upgrade is under way and we don't want to see it put off until after the election."