Politicians divided on how to pay for $3bn harbour tunnel

North Shore's mayor and MP both want a tunnel under the Waitemata Harbour to unclog bridge traffic, but disagree on how to raise up to $3 billion to pay for it.

National's MP for North Shore Wayne Mapp is holding public meetings to garner support for a tunnel which he says could be paid for with a $3 toll each way, to be extended to the existing harbour bridge.

This proposal, which would require a law change to allow tolls on existing as well as new roads, is backed by Auckland City Mayor Dick Hubbard as a way of safeguarding what he sees as a vital economic lifeline.

But North Shore Mayor George Wood says tolls would be unfair on his residents unless these could be extended to the rest of urban Auckland, to reduce traffic congestion throughout the region and to promote public transport alternatives.

Dr Mapp, who warns that traffic is likely to reach the harbour bridge's maximum daily capacity of 180,000 vehicles in five to seven years, wants a public-private partnership to be formed without delay to build a four-lane tunnel under its eastern flank.

He says the only way it could be paid for without draining money needed for other transport projects is to toll both the tunnel and the existing eight-lane bridge, meaning two-thirds of the overall operation should be owned by Transit New Zealand.

Although early tolls on the bridge were unpopular and a toll increase before the 1981 election cost National the East Coast Bays electorate, Dr Mapp said 66 per cent of almost 800 people he had surveyed about another harbour crossing considered $2 to be a fair charge.

He had revised his calculations since conducting the survey in November, and now believed a $3 toll would be necessary.

Transit also favours a tunnel ahead of a duplicate bridge for providing the best connections with existing roads, and says it hopes soon to appoint a project director to head a full investigation into a new harbour crossing.

It has been more than a year since the Auckland Regional Land Transport Committee asked Transit to lead such an investigation, and to form a project team including regional council and Auckland and North Shore City representatives.

But Transit regional manager Richard Hancy said yesterday the investigation would be a major undertaking requiring considerable skills, so the agency had to advertise internationally for the right person.

He said this had produced some good candidates, whose applications were still being evaluated.

No budget has been included in Transit's draft 10-year state highways plan, however, and the regional transport committee is asking the agency to make provision in the finalised document for about $300 million to buy land needed to safeguard a tunnel route.