Linking road still unnamed off Northwestern Motorway

By STUART DYE, transport reporter

The new road linking State Highway 1 to the top of the Northwestern Motorway is being built - but it still has no name.

Transit New Zealand has made several suggestions on what the 15km road should be called.

As well, it has suggested that the North Shore City Council comes up with a name of its own.

"It needs to be a clear, self-explanatory title based on its location," said works and environment committee chairman councillor Joel Cayford.

"This naming exercise is an opportunity for something quick and simple, or something complex and creative we might regret for a very long time," he said.

Transit's suggestions include:

* Northeastern Motorway

* Northern Hills Motorway

* Sunderland Motorway (after a bay nearby)

* Altoma (for Albany to Massey).

The name favoured by local iwi is Akiorohia O Ngariki, which refers to the panoramic tidal inlet of Hobsonville Point, and the Ngariki tribe.

Sticking to Upper Harbour Motorway, the name used during planning of the road , was also suggested, but North Shore councillors said this was too unimaginative, and have put forward other suggestions, including Greenhithe Highway and Upper Waitemata Drive.

The four-lane, $95 million stretch of motorway will provide a high-speed, high-capacity link between North Shore City and Waitakere City.

It is expected to be finished in 2007.

It runs from the intersection of Constellation Drive and State Highway 1, through Albany and Greenhithe, and across the newly widened Greenhithe Bridge into Waitakere.

It will cut down on congestion by giving an alternative route to State Highway 1, enabling motorists to bypass the Harbour Bridge and Auckland City.

Transit New Zealand's regional manager, Wayne McDonald, said the motorway would provide provided a less congested and much safer connection between the two cities.