Concerns over East West Connections - Generation Zero

Wednesday, 17 June 2015, 3:41 pm
Press Release: Generation Zero

Concerns over East West Connections - Generation Zero

Youth organisation Generation Zero has a number of serious concerns with the proposed East-West Connections road announced for consultation by Auckland Transport and the New Zealand Transport Agency today.

The proposal involves a number of road widening projects between Onehunga and Sylvia Park, including a new four lane road along the Onehunga foreshore. There was overwhelming feedback opposing new motorways during the initial consultation phase.

Dr Sudhvir Singh: “While we agree this area is in need of some roading improvements, we believe the focus should be on more affordable local roading interventions, rather than building a new motorway with large scale road widening such as been proposed.”

Dr Singh; “The road improvements proposed will have huge cost. There has been no economic analysis of the benefits of the project. Given the scale of roading proposed it is likely to cost at least one billion dollars when we already have a tight transport budget.”

The proposed route also includes intermittent bus lanes, however there are concerns in regards to a lack of planning for a future route for rail to the airport.

Dr Singh; “This road makes the important rail to the airport project even more difficult, as several new roads will pass above the corridor without future proofing for rail. While the bus lanes proposed will offer some improvements, there will be conflicts between trucks and buses sharing these lanes in suburban areas.”

“A more effective solution would be a dedicated congestion-free busway through Mangere as part of a high frequency public transport network. The current proposal does not deliver this for the community” explains Dr Singh.

ENDS

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