Additional Waitemata Harbour crossing is "wrong priority"

Monday, 16 March 2015, 4:16 pm
Press Release: Generation Zero

Generation Zero condemns Additional Waitemata Harbour crossing as wrong priority

Youth organisation, Generation Zero, is disappointed by the government’s announcement that it will progress with the Additional Waitemata Harbour crossing, which will cost between $4 to $6 billion for a route where traffic has flatlined.

Spokesperson Dr Sudhvir Singh; “The government wants to spend the entire state highway budget for nearly five years on a project that’s not needed for several decades. According to the government’s own transport agency, with the success of the Northern Busway, traffic over the harbour bridge has completely flattened.”

Over 40% of commuters entering the city from the North Shore in peak time now use the Northern Busway. The completion of the Waterview Connection, due to open in 2016, will give a full state highway alternative between Auckland and the North Shore, making an additional crossing redundant.

Generation Zero have produced a 15 year plan to transform Auckland’s public transport network, known as the Congestion Free Network. This plan was costed conservatively at $10 billion, with the Auckland Council and Government sharing the costs.

Dr Singh; “The money spent on the Additional Waitemata Harbour crossing could instead provide Auckland with a world class, city-wide, fast, frequent public transport network. This transport plan would make up for the under investment in public transport over the past 50 years, however the government’s plan would continue to lock Auckland into car dependency, traffic congestion and carbon pollution.”

At the heart of the Congestion Free Network, the proposed City Rail Link is expected to move an additional 12,000 commuters every morning. At a cost of $2.4 billion, the City Rail link is able to move almost double the amount of morning traffic compared with the additional crossing, which will move 6,000 commuters at a cost of $4 to $6 billion. Dr Singh; “The government favours a project that costs more than twice as much but delivers less than half as many movements as the City Rail Link.”

ENDS

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