KEY POINTS:
Long-suffering users of eastern Auckland's Half Moon Bay ferry services will soon gain shelter from the wind and rain.
The Auckland Regional Transport Authority is about to begin a $300,000 project to provide seats and canopies for the hundreds of commuters who congregate beside Tamaki River each morning, waiting for ferries.
Passengers who now crowd a small bus-stop for shelter will by the end of August have a large covered waiting area with seating for at least 50 people.
A fibreglass canopy will also be erected over a boardwalk extending about 14 metres from the waiting area to a ferry pontoon.
It is not yet known whether a ground-breaking ceremony will proceed as planned this afternoon, because of the heart attack suffered at the weekend by Manukau Mayor Len Brown.
Mr Brown was to have used a jack-hammer to launch the project, but the transport authority said it would wait for advice from Manukau City Council this morning whether the ceremony should proceed.
The mayor told the Herald on Friday that the ferry service was a vital transport link for his city, and he was looking forward to working with the authority on a full upgrade of the Half Moon Bay terminal.
"It is a significant project - it is what we have been talking about for the past 10 to 15 years."
Half Moon Bay Ferry Users Group chairwoman Cheryl Williams said the project would provide commuters with the first proper shelter since services began nine years ago.
She said it followed a 325-signature petition which she organised two and a half years ago.
Mrs Williams said more than 600 people commonly caught three morning peak-time ferries operated by Fullers, for a 35-minute trip to central Auckland. That compared with bus trips which had sometimes taken her an hour and a half or longer, before the introduction of ferries.
Although it is not uncommon for ferry sailings to be prevented at low tides, Mrs Williams said the navigability of Tamaki River was a wider issue yet to be grappled with.
The Auckland Regional Council does not believe dredging the river would be cost-effective, but an alternative of using flat-bottomed vessels would be likely to raise community concerns about larger wakes.
