Six big road projects face review

By KEVIN TAYLOR political reporter

Six major roading projects - including the $139 million Mt Roskill extension of State Highway 20 in Auckland - are being reviewed.

The criteria are not yet worked out but the review will be undertaken jointly by Transit and Transfund and be finished by Christmas.

The review is to ensure the projects, worth a combined $342.5 million, fit within the Government's transport strategy and yet-to-be-passed legislation reforming the road funding framework.

It was unclear last night if the review endangers any projects.

A spokeswoman for Transport Minister Paul Swain said he was not going to start second-guessing the review's outcome.

Transit acting chief executive Rick van Barneveld said he could not give a categorical assurance that none of the projects was at risk, but said they had already been subjected to "extraordinary scrutiny".

The review comes after an agreement between the Government and the Greens on a wide-ranging transport package announced in February last year which included a 4.7c increase in petrol tax.

Mr Swain told Parliament yesterday that the review would start immediately and be finished by December. "This tight timeframe will ensure any delays will be kept to an absolute minimum and that final decisions can be made as soon as possible."

He confirmed in answering a question from United Future that three major Auckland projects, the SH20 Mt Roskill extension, the Esmonde Rd interchange and the North Shore busway, were among the projects being reviewed.

The others are the Hewletts Rd/Maunganui Rd intersection in the Bay of Plenty, the Wellington inner-city bypass and the Mangatawhiri deviation on SH2 in the Waikato.

Greens co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons, asked about possible outcomes of the review, declined to make predictions.

She said the Greens were not asking for the projects to be stopped or delayed. "If some of them slip further down the list because they don't meet the objectives ... something else will come up the list."



The Greens' spokesman on Auckland transport, Keith Locke, welcomed the review of the Mt Roskill project.

He said there were "serious questions" about whether it met the transport strategy's requirements for environmental sustainability, public health, improved mobility and economic development.

Even Transit's figures showed the extension would encourage more people to get into their cars and further congest feeder roads to SH20 such as Hillsborough Rd and Dominion Rd, he said.

He also mentioned the controversy over environmental damage.

Auckland Mayor John Banks described Transit's programme as a "Trojan Horse" and indicated that talks between Auckland councillors and the Government are further forward than thought.

"We need to meet a $2.4 billion shortfall to solve the gridlock," he said. "Traditional funding from Transfund will never get the projects off the ground in the time we want. The Government clearly recognises the problem and wants to fix it and I'm quietly confident they will come through."

Reviewed roads

* SH20 Mt Roskill extension, Auckland, $139m

* SH1 Esmonde Rd interchange, Auckland, $32m

* SH1 North Shore busway (stages 1 and 2), Auckland, $95m

* SH29 Hewletts Rd/Maunganui Rd intersection, Bay of Plenty, $23.5m

* SH1 Wellington inner-city bypass, $30m

* SH2 Mangatawhiri deviation, Waikato, $23m

* Total: $342.5m Source: Transit

- ADDITIONAL REPORTING: STUART DYE