Orewa's traffic hell to end - at a price

By BERNARD ORSMAN and WAYNE THOMPSON

Work will start next year on a $160 million tolled stretch of highway between Orewa and Puhoi, promising relief to motorists who use what police call "traffic hell".

Transit, the national road builder, announced yesterday that it was bringing forward the start of the Alpurt project from 2006 to late next year.

The 6km of State Highway 1 will fix the summer and weekend holiday bottleneck at Orewa. But it will also test motorists' willingness to pay a toll on a major road. The levy has not been determined.

Transit chief executive Dr Robin Dunlop said there were issues to be resolved but if all went well the road could be open in 2008.

Since the opening of the Northern Motorway extension from Albany to Orewa in 1999, traffic has been diverted through Orewa streets and a winding and dangerous section of State Highway 1 to Puhoi and beyond. Trucks are not allowed on the link road through Orewa to State Highway 1 and must drive through Silverdale.

At the height of last summer holidays, when lengthy queues of traffic stuck in Orewa's suburban streets led to incidents of road rage, police described the Orewa to Puhoi road as being like "traffic hell" .

The Mayor of Rodney, John Law, said he would prefer the road not to be tolled because it was a state highway, "but if it is the only way we can get it built I believe people will accept it". He thought the toll should not be more than $1.50.

Decisions on a toll will have to wait until announcements by the Government due on December 12 about how to pay for ways to solve Auckland's transport problems.

The national road funding agency, Transfund, could provide between 30 per cent and 60 per cent of the cost of the project, with the rest coming from the private sector.

Transit is meeting the Rodney District Council tomorrow to discuss the project and plans to consult the public.

The Automobile Association public affairs director, George Fairbairn, said the AA would accept a toll but only because an alternative, toll-free route would be available.