Harbour crossing low on list

A future crossing of Auckland's Waitemata Harbour is listed simply as

Auckland's next harbour crossing is acknowledged by Infrastructure Minister Bill English as one of several "major gaps" identified by the first version of a national infrastructure plan.

But Mr English gave an assurance that the plan, issued yesterday, would be updated next year.

He told the Trans-Tasman Business Circle in Auckland that the pioneering attempt of the Treasury's national infrastructure unit was "essentially a stocktake of existing activity" including projects for which the Government had committed funds for the next five to seven years.

Within a 20-year planning horizon, however, the plan lists infrastructure projects expected to cost between $55 billion and $63 billion, including $11.5 billion for water and stormwater requirements.

The Government's seven designated "roads of national significance" are listed for a spend-up over the next 10 or so years of $8 billion to $9.6 billion. So are Transpower upgrade projects costing $2.3 billion and rail upgrades for which the Government has committed $2.2 billion.

But a future crossing of Auckland's Waitemata Harbour - whether it be tunnels or another bridge - is listed simply as as one of 30 large transport infrastructure projects "to be considered" for funding beyond 2012.

It is by far the costliest item on the list, with a stated estimated price range of $3 billion to $6 billion, trailed by a possible new Auckland motorway to link State Highway 1 with SH20 for $1.4 billion to $1.7 billion.

The Treasury's cost estimate for a new harbour crossing is far wider than the Transport Agency's expectation that two motorway and two railway tunnels could be built for $3.7 billion to $4.1 billion.

Promoters of a 3km bridge over the same route between the Tank Farm and Takapuna say that would cost a more modest $2.5 billion to $3 billion.

Transport Minister Steven Joyce said in December, after the agency confirmed that the existing bridge's northbound clip-on may have only 10 to 20 years left before traffic restrictions are needed, that he hoped a new crossing would be ready in 15 years.

Mr English would not be drawn on that likelihood yesterday.

"The plan signals a few major gaps in the infrastructure - that's one of them," he said. "There's a lot of detailed work going on about it but we are well short of a Government commitment to it."

Asked whether the Government could afford another crossing, in view of his concern about New Zealand's mounting indebtedness, he said: "With a lot of this infrastructure, it's a question of whether you can afford not to have it."

The plan describes good transport connections across the Waitemata as critical for Auckland's economic performance.

Council for Infrastructure Development chief Stephen Selwood welcomed the plan as a good start, but asked why it had not proposed public private partnerships (PPP) to accelerate transport projects.

Mr English told him the Government until recently had no capacity for evaluating PPPs, and was focusing on deciding whether these could be useful for building schools and a new prison before considering them for transport projects.

The infrastructure plan also points to a potential long-term use of user-pays road pricing to combat traffic congestion, an idea the Ministry of Transport proposed for Auckland in 2006 but deferred after strong public opposition.

Despite the gaps in the plan, Prime Minister John Key said the country's infrastructure looked in sound shape.

"That's not to say that there won't be increased demand for infrastructure as we cope with the changes in the next 20 years," he said.

"The Government is obviously committed to increasing its expenditure in infrastructure - we allocated $7.5 billion [extra] to be spent in the next four years."

"The obvious areas like roading still have more work to be completed and a major upgrade of the national grid is part of that agenda, and the long-term economic development of New Zealand water remains very important [as does] the roll out of ultra-fast broadband."

- additional reporting: Derek Cheng