10 June 2005

Motorway Madness Bad News for Auckland City

The announced August 2005 start date for Transit New Zealand's construction on the Mt Roskill extension of State Highway 20 is yet more bad news for the local communities and for Auckland's transport future.

Transit NZ intends beginning engineering earthworks on the Mount Roskill to Owairaka extension of SH20 in August of 2005.

"Basically, its here comes years of disruption, noise and dust, to be followed by years of increased traffic congestion. Having bulldozed away dozens of local homes, those remaining are about to have their community permanently divided by concrete, steel and vehicles," Living Communities spokesperson Phil Chase said today.

"This motorway extension will do nothing to relieve pressure on local streets, as Transit has claimed. It will merely add increased traffic to Dominion, Sandringham and Maioro Roads."

"We know from all the overseas research that more roadways create more induced traffic volumes. This will encourage more people into their cars and add to the area's pollution problems. Auckland's transport planners are increasingly at odds with the rest of the world in believing we can motorway our way out of congestion."

"Auckland's transport planning is just so far behind Australia and Europe. Sydney has recently put a stop to its M4 motorway extension, and has just announced an $8 billion investment in public transport. Only in Auckland are we still paving our way towards more queues of slow-moving vehicle transport."

"The Mt Roskill extension is bad enough," said Mr Chase "but the Avondale extension will be truly devastating. The next phase of the project, the "Avondale extension", threatens the amenity and ecologically significant Oakley Creek as well as community parks and reserves."

"Putting the two projects together we are wasting well over $1 billion of money that would be better spent upgrading Auckland's public transport infrastructure. The Mount Roskill $ millions could be better invested in developing the Avondale-Onehunga rail route or free buses."

ENDS

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