North Shore City Mayor pushes for urgency on Victoria Park tunnel project

North Shore City Mayor George Wood says the 2014 completion date for Transit's $370m Victoria Park tunnel project is unacceptable for the region's motorists.

Mr Wood welcomes news that investigative drilling has begun on the project, but adds his support to the NZ Council for Infrastructure Development's position that the tunnel needs to open four years earlier.

"This tunnel has to be a national transport infrastructure priority. North Shore City motorists heading across the harbour bridge in peak periods are increasingly frustrated about the ongoing bottleneck at the Victoria Park flyover.

"As it stands, we can only dream of the day when the flyover carries south-bound traffic, the tunnel carries north-bound traffic, and an extra lane each way between the tunnel and the harbour bridge eases congestion. "Northern Busway users would also benefit from this increased road capacity south of the harbour bridge.

"As New Zealand's economic centre, the Auckland region cannot afford for congestion to continue.

"Once a new Government is formed, I look forward to joining my Auckland region mayoral colleagues in continuing to advocate strongly for our transport projects."

(ends)

© Scoop Media