Review confirms Penlink a priority

Rodney Mayor Penny Webster says she is delighted to see that Penlink has passed its latest peer review with flying colours.

Mrs Webster comment follows the release of an independent review of the Penlink project, commissioned by the Auckland Regional Transport Authority (ARTA) with the support of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) and Rodney District Council.

“The review confirms that the scheme is robust and justifies its current funding position in the Auckland Regional Land Transport Programme (ALTP),” added Rodney District Council’s Director of Infrastructure Murray Noone.

“The purpose of this review was to increase confidence in the Penlink project to ensure that the scheme proposed and the business case was robust,” he explained.

The results of the review confirm that the technical work such as the engineering and demand assessment has been undertaken to a suitable standard and that the proposed project will meet its objectives both now and into the future.

“Importantly, the review also confirmed that the scheme was considered to be economically sound. However, we will need to apply for extensions of time for resource consents and the designation,” Mr Noone added. “

ARTA’s General Manager Strategy and Planning, Peter Clark says the transport body is confident Penlink is a technically viable, economically justifiable project needed to meet future growth planned for Silverdale and the Whangaparaoa Peninsula.

“However, despite this confidence, funding for the Penlink project will remain an issue as there are other more highly ranked transport projects in the Auckland region,” Mr Clark conceded.

“A project like AMETI, which has traffic demands exceeding 50,000 vehicles a day and serving the large and rapidly growing south east Auckland metropolitan area, will have first call on scarce available funds”, he added.

Mayor Webster said she wanted to restate the Penlink case to Transport Minister Steven Joyce and for the proposed PPP, now that the project has been confirmed as a desirable use of the Government’s roading funds.
“It is important that I meet with the Minister again to reiterate why Penlink is a much needed and economically viable asset for Auckland.”
[Ends]

© Scoop Media