16 |The Business Friday, June 12, 2015

transportFuture Auckland Business Campaign

Sponsored by Auckland Business Forum

Auckland —defined bycongestion

Auckland deserves a singletransport strategy with anagreed package ofimmediate projects thatreduces congestion . . .

Businesses say a single Auckland-Wellington strategy is critical

Auckland businesseshave told us Auckland’stransport strategy is notmaking the difference itshould for the size of the

investment being made — about $1.6billion a year.

It is not helping improve the waypeople and freight travel around ourfast-growing city.

It is not helping New Zealand’sfurther economic growth andproductivity. It is adding tocongestion and Aucklanders’frustration travelling around the city.

They want a Wellington andAuckland leadership consensus overthe city’s transport problems andsolutions.

We say it is time for an aligned,single Wellington-Auckland transportstrategy and action plan:

● An agreed strategy that clearly setsout Auckland’s and the Government’simmediate and next generation oftransport investments.● A package of short and medium-term projects that focuses onremoving congestion bottlenecks andimproving access to where mostAucklanders live and work.

It would be a strategy and mix ofprojects that both the Governmentand Auckland Council endorse, whichclearly addresses congestion andaccess issues holding back Auckland’seconomic growth and productivity —with speed and urgency.

Once we have agreement on whatinvestments will make the greatestdifference, attention can then turn tofunding. Funding should followstrategy.

No bank lends or invests moneywithout full details of what it will beused for and the likely return.Taxpayers andratepayersshouldn’t either.

This is themessage we aretaking to theGovernment andAucklandCouncil.

Aucklanddeserves a singletransport strategy with an agreedpackage of immediate projects thatreduces congestion, supportseconomic growth and productivity,and guarantees access to employmentand housing development areas.

For the future prosperity ofAuckland and New Zealand, it iscritical that we make this change ofattitude and approach.

This supplement sets out the

concerns of Auckland BusinessForum members over what’scurrently being planned — what’sunacceptable — and why it is nowcritical that the Government and theAuckland Council put asidedifferences and work together toachieve an agreed transport strategyand package of projects over the waythe Auckland transport system shoulddevelop.

Forum pushesfor better travelThe Auckland Business Forum wasestablished in 2000 with a singleaim: To ensure that Aucklandprogresses its strategic transportnetwork — an integrated motorwaysystem with options of “affordable”public transport — as rapidly aspossible and to keep pace withAuckland’s population andeconomic growth.The catalyst for establishing theforum was a shared frustrationwithin Auckland’s businesscommunity at the increasing time-cost to businesses — thenestimated at $1 billion annually —arising from Auckland’s severetraffic congestion.The forum’s membership bringstogether a cross-section ofAuckland industry and commercewhose role includes guardianship ofbusinesses responsible for morethan 500,000 Auckland jobs andgenerating more than a third ofNew Zealand’s gross domesticproduct.

For more information, contactchairman Michael Barnett on027-5631-150 ormbarnett@chamber.co.nz, orproject co-ordinator Tony Garnier,0274-990-155 ortg.vsg@clear.net.nz.

An agreed single plan of attack is requiredto unclog roads, writes Michael Barnett

City’s transport planlocking in gridlock

Michael Barnettis chief executiveof the AucklandChamber ofCommerce andchairman of theAucklandBusiness Forum.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 18

Despite a huge investment, road congestion is getting worse. Picture / Greg Bowker

Auckland faces economic gridlock ifcurrent Auckland transport plans arenot changed.

We are a modern internationalcity, but with a transport systemholding us back.

Most of the money to fix Auck-land’s transport has come from cen-tral government — about $1 billion ayear for the past decade. Govern-ment’s spend has been on criticallyneeded “catch up” projects fromearlier decades of underinvestment —the motorway system, North Shorebusway, electrification of commuterrail, and a share with AucklandCouncil in bus and rail infrastructure.

Auckland Council is spendingaround $600 million a year — most

visible are the local road and footpathupgrades, cycleways and public trans-port. But is the spend value formoney?

Despite the huge investment intransport, we continue to be on theback foot. Last year alone, 35,000 carswere added to our traffic fleet. Conges-tion and access issues are gettingworse, and costs and frustration arereaching breaking point. Aucklanders

Time for some joined up planning

StephenSelwood is chiefexecutive of theNew ZealandCouncil forInfrastructureDevelopment .

Present plans weak, argues Stephen Selwood

CONTINUED ON PAGE 18

Unlocking Auckland’s potential to bethe world’s most liveable city requiresjoined up transport and urban plan-ning. Prioritised transport invest-ment, traffic management, technology,tolls and targeted intensification willbe critical.

The Auckland Council is grap-pling with ways to manage growth asit seeks to implement the AucklandPlan aspiration to turn Aucklandfrom an expansive car-based metro-polis to a “quality compact city”supported by public transport.

But will the planned growth andinvestment strategy provide anattractive liveable city for the pro-jected 1 million more people by 2050,or a population of 3 million in 50years or more? Not according toAuckland Council information whichreveals that if plans are implemented,Auckland is heading for gridlock fromthe late 2020s (see graph on p18).

Traffic modelling shows Aucklandwill have fewer jobs accessible by a30-minute commute beyond 2025 thanwe have today, speeds for the 70 per

cent of commuters without access toviable public transport services willbe lower, inter-peak travel congestionwill become a serious problem andfreight and commercial trips will beslower and costlier.

The policies and programmesidentified by the council are nothaving the impact required to keepAuckland moving.

At the heart of any transportefficiency problem are two factors:services (roads and public transport)and demand (generated by the loca-tion of homes and businesses).

On the services side, a first prin-ciples review of the timing,sequencing and prioritisation ofmajor transport projects is required.We must understand why traffic stopsmoving between 2025 and 2035 and

Friday, June 12, 2015 The Business | 17

transportFuture Auckland Business Campaign

Sponsored by Auckland Business Forum

Clogged roads costing millionsOpportunitybeing missed tospeed up vitalprojects, writesChris Burke

Chris Burke ischairman of theAuckland branchof CivilContractors NZ

Jammed roads are affecting big jobs such as the Waterview Connection. Picture / Nick Reed

To avoid Auckland’s econ-omy grinding to a halt,the Government andAuckland Council mustquickly come up with a

single agreed transport strategy thatfocuses action on the real issuesaffecting the movement of people andgoods around the city.

There are two big issues affectingAuckland’s building and constructionindustry:● Congestion is costing civil con-tractors millions of dollars of downtime and lost productivity.● The lack of co-ordination betweenconstruction clients, especially centraland local government, means anopportunity is being missed, to bundleprocurement, provide continuity ofwork and speed up delivery througha joined up approach.

While Government-commissionedreports indicate that traffic congestionis a major factor in productivity andefficiency losses in civil construction,Auckland’s transport plans fail to

define the problem or offer solutions.That must be addressed.

At just the time when the industryfaces a huge construction programme,congestion is getting worse.

The carriage of aggregates fromsouthern quarries to building andconstruction sites around Aucklandhas become a nightmare. Likewise,the cartage of waste from construc-tion sites, including major transportprojects like Waterview, can varyfrom one to three hours.

Having trucks sitting idle forhours a day at motorway on-ramps isnot only a huge waste of time, it isalso adding to the costs carried byoperators or passed on to clients, aswell as contributing to CO2 emissions.

Congestion is costing trucking

operators as much as a 20 per centreduction in revenue, which for largefleet operators can reach millions ofdollars a year. For smaller companies,it is making businesses marginalunless they can pass the cost on toclients.

Congestion has reached the pointwhere many construction workerscommute to their sites before dawnand depart after the peak.

In other cases, construction sitesare closed mid-afternoon so workerscan get home for familycommitments.

Some obvious immediate actionsare needed:● NZTA and AT need a fully inte-grated traffic management system —so proposals submitted over many

years without any action can proceed.For example, enabling trucks to usearterial roads or busways (outsidepeak hours) without having to get onthe motorway● A work programme to reducechoke points along the motorwaysystem and accelerate the East-WestConnector.

At the heart of an Auckland-Wellington strategy must be an accel-erated effort to improve the city’spublic transport system. Gettingsingle-occupancy commuter vehiclesoff Auckland roads during the daywould free up the capacity forcontractors, transport operators andother essential trades.

From our point of view, we are inthis for the long haul and if it takesdebt to fund the solution, then allfunding options should be consideredobjectively.

We also acknowledge that the rootcause of the growing congestion is arapidly increasing population want-ing to use a network with an almostfixed capacity. Supply isn’t keepingpace with demand.

Long term, some form of demandmanagement solution may be needed,as in other fast-growing internationalcities.

Meanwhile, increased publictransport funding is only viable if itdoes not impact on the activities ofthe people who build the city.

That’s what civil contractors wantto do — build to help meet Auckland’sgrowth needs, so people can lead livesin the confidence they can go from Ato B without spending half their livessitting in a vehicle in clogged traffic.● For more information contact ChrisBurke on 0274-421-463

Transport merger well worth a lookContinuity of work forthe constructionindustry is vital forAuckland’s prosperity.

Picture / Kenny Rodger

An agreed transport strategy andpackage of projects that addressesboth the Government’s and AucklandCouncil’s transport objectives hasmerit for other reasons besides attack-ing congestion — important as that is.

Continuity of work for the con-struction industry is vital for Auck-land’s prosperity. While the sector hasmoved beyond the stop-go cycle of theearly 2000s, there are still challenges.The sector’s productivity has flat-linedfor 20 years and is still below levels inAustralia. There is scope for improve-ment but this is not helped byAuckland’s congestion and the smallsize of some projects.

As well as the impact of conges-tion, especially for smaller firms, theproductivity performance is reflectedin a range of systemic issues, ratherthan under-investment in capital. Infact, for many the risk is that capitalinvestments are underutilised withouta steady pipeline of work.

Research suggests spreading outthe work so it coincides withagencies’ available resources not onlyresults in price creep, but removesincentive for transport providers toget projects ready to go and tenderthem as quickly as possible.

Our fragmented transport delivery

system means we are missing theopportunity to bundle procurementthrough a joined up approach. A goodexample is the Mill Rd upgradeproject Auckland Transport is manag-ing, while nearby NZTA is wideningthe southern motorway.

A single joined up pipeline offorward building and constructionwork under a single transport deliv-ery arrangement could provide better:● Planning by all participants in thesector.● Scheduling of investment in skillsand capital.● Co-ordination between construc-tion clients (particularly central andlocal government) that could lead tobetter scheduling of construction pro-jects.

The greater the procurement ofmaterials and the sooner projects areready to start building, the cheaperthey are. For example, the Mill Rdcorridor project would be consider-ably cheaper as a single design andbuild contract, not stretched outbeyond 2025 as proposed. AucklandTransport has estimated the projectwill cost $472 million; adjusted forinflation over 20-plus years, the costballoons to more than $800 million.

We support a bolder approach, in

which value for money dictates afaster pace to complete the whole ofthe route within 10 years.

Logic suggests significantefficiency gains and value for moneywould result from a joint strategy byNZTA and Auckland Transport forboth the Southern Motorway widen-ing and Mill Rd corridor works.Better returns from the investment bytax and ratepayers would be achievedfrom Auckland having a single deliv-ery agency with a single plan.

Another example of costly, timewasting duplication is the planningfor the East-West Corridor. Part of thedelay is because project planning hasto be signed off by Auckland Council,the Auckland Transport board andthe NZTA board.

In the city centre alone, some 30major construction projects areproposed over the next few years.Unless these are carefully plannedand scheduled, they will cause trans-port headaches for contractors andcommuters. Large delivery loads willbe a daily event, affecting traffic onthe motorways and city streets.Having a joined up traffic manage-ment plan ready to go that extendsNZTA’s “One Network” approach intoAuckland Transport’s central citystreets is a further practical benefitthat would result from a mergedNZTA and Auckland Transportoperation. — Chris Burke

18 |The Business Friday, June 12, 2015

transportFuture Auckland Business Campaign

Sponsored by Auckland Business Forum

City transport planlocking in gridlockCONTINUED FROM PAGE 16

Good leadership isabout partnership.It is aboutunderstanding thatwe have limitedresources, so wemust learn toprioritise correctly.

have had enough. They want immedi-ate action focused on what mattersmost — unblocking choke points andcongestion bottlenecks on the roadnetwork.

But it isn’t happening. Auckland’stransport strategy lacks a clear workprogramme to fix the issues thatfrustrate Aucklanders every day.

For too long, Auckland’s transportdebate has been about trains and

buses versus cars. All are essential.Cars are an efficient, convenientoption for a spread-out city likeAuckland, where most of us havemultiple destinations each day. Safeand reliable public transport is anecessary part of a modern city’slifestyle.

We need to find ways to increasepublic transport use, and to ensurethat Auckland’s 165,000 businesses,most of which are small to mediumsized, many requiring multiple tripsacross the city every day, are notgridlocked as they do business.

An agreed, single transport planand work programme would do won-ders for Auckland. It would giveAuckland and the rest of New Zealandcertainty that we are at last gettingahead of the growth curve in address-ing the city’s real time transportinfrastructure needs.

It would allow Government andAuckland Council, taxpayers and rate-payers, to see that the huge invest-ment New Zealand makes in Auck-land transport represents value formoney.

Joined up planning vital for a liveable cityCONTINUED FROM PAGE 16

2006 2016 2026 2036 2046Source: Auckland regional land transport plan

Herald graphic

GETTING SLOWERInter-peak travel speed

Basic network

Faster

Slower

Auckland Plan networkwhy it subsequently improves againthrough to the 2040s. Opportunitiesfor improvement include:● Enhancing the convenience of pub-lic transport services to majordemand centres like the universities,schools, hospitals and the airport.● Bus, ferry, train and park-and-rideconnections that work hand in glove.● Intelligent traffic managements sys-tems, such as traffic lights thatsynchronise and real time roadpricing that adjusts price to trafficspeeds — lower prices when speedsare high, higher prices when speedsare low.● Embracing technologies, includingelectric and autonomous vehicles.

● Encouragement of remote working.● Better prioritisation of transportinvestment to projects that make adifference. Three of the most sig-nificant city shaping projects planned— the $2.5 billion City Rail Link, the$5 billion Harbour Crossing and the$2 billion plus Auckland ManukauEastern Transport Initiative (AMETI)— all show poor returns on invest-ment and could be improved.

On the demand side, the ProposedAuckland Unitary Plan, which setsout where homes, jobs and otherdevelopment occur, must be revised.

The Unitary Plan proposes piece-meal infill across much of the existingurban area. Infill arguably achievesthe least desirable outcomes — den-sity inadequate to support public

transport and reduced suburban qual-ity of life. Opportunities for improve-ment include:● Removing the ability for propertyowners to subdivide land where pub-lic transport services cannot be pro-vided and shifting that growth to

public transport supported centres.● Loosening restrictions relating toheritage and character in areas likethe central isthmus.● Much more growth in the centralcity. In the next three years, half of allAuckland Transport’s new capitalinvestment for the region will bedirected into the CBD. More growthshould be targeted there, or themoney redistributed where it is moreeffective in supporting new housing.● Less growth in the east until thereare adequate transport services● Creation of a dense, new satellitecity like Brisbane’s Springfield.

None of these solutions will be easy,but if the council can’t get traction onmost, the compact city policy isunworkable and must be abandoned.

New crossing needsto link to the eastPlanned harbourtunnel route duefor a re-think,writes StephenSelwood

The next harbourcrossing isexpected to cost$4 to $5 billion.

Picture / Nick Reed

Projections for a dramaticincrease in congestion inAuckland after 2025 alsoshow there will be a par-tial recovery from 2035.

The reason for this is a series ofmotorway improvements that willaffect motorway speeds through theday and travel time reliability.

This reinforces lessons learnedover the past decade: well-conceivedinvestment in roads reduces conges-tion. Combined with a fully pricednetwork that adjusts tolls to managedemand as traffic volumes ebb andflow, careful investment provides areal opportunity to improve servicesto road users.

Auckland’s biggest opportunity toimprove its strategic road network isthrough the planned investment in anadditional Waitemata Harbour cross-ing linked to the east.

The proposed tunnel linking theNorth Shore to Spaghetti Junctionhas serious choke points to the northand south which limit its effective-ness. Duplication of the existing cor-ridor beside the Harbour Bridge addsno new connectivity and wastes theconstrained transport budget.

For $4 billion to $5 billion we cando better.

Previous transport authoritieswith long-term vision for the cityprotected a corridor which links theCBD to key growth centres in GlenInnes, Stonefields, Panmure, Mt Well-ington, Onehunga, Pakuranga, Botanyand Flat Bush.

Connecting a harbour tunnel tothis corridor, underground so itprotects the views and amenity of the

eastern suburbs, enables an extensionto Mt Wellington and beyond. Chokepoints from Mt Wellington to Ellerslieto Spaghetti Junction will be relievedand freight and commerce will havean alternative connection between theindustrial hubs of Penrose and EastTamaki to the port and north.

A connection along this desig-nated corridor will take traffic offlocal roads, free up the SouthernMotorway and allow increaseddevelopment in the east.

Such a solution would be expens-ive, so its merits would have to becarefully costed. The concerning out-look for transport in Auckland meansthis option must be investigatedbefore a designation for the harbourtunnel is pursued.● For more information contactStephen Selwood on 021-791-209 oremail stephen.selwood@nzcid.org.nz

Quick fixesto congestionMichael Barnett

It shouldn’t have been a surpriseto anyone, least of all AucklandCouncil, that newly appointedTransport Minister SimonBridges last year flagged that hewas sceptical about whether theoptions being presented toAucklanders would deliver tang-ible value-for-money benefits tomoving people and freightaround Auckland.

Business has been of thatview for some time, and hasoffered solutions in submissionsto the council’s transport andlong term plans.

But I suggest there is asignificant potential for quickimprovements to Auckland’scongestion through a range ofother initiatives:● Getting as much use as pos-sible out of the transportationsystem we have.● Removing parking frommajor arterial routes.● Introducing more high occu-pancy lanes.● An integrated traffic manage-ment programme coveringarterials and motorways andselected local roads, providingreal-time traffic informationservices, and providing morechoice, such as alternativeroutes.● Improving and expandingpark and ride facilities at railand busway stations.In the medium term, Auckland’scritical SH1 spine through thecity from Drury to Albanyshould be three lanes each way,all the way.There are a lot of issues at theMt Wellington overbridge, NewZealand’s worst congestionchoke point.It is unacceptable that NZTAand Auckland Transport seem towant to retain this choke pointindefinitely, to prevent conges-tion spreading further along thenetwork.

Friday, June 12, 2015 The Business | 19

transportFuture Auckland Business Campaign

Sponsored by Auckland Business Forum

Trucks keep NewZealand movingFree up cloggedroads for ourcarriers, saysDavid Aitken

Congestion delays cost the freight sector an estimated $2 million a week. Picture / Brett Phibbs

David Aitken ischief executiveof National RoadCarriers.

Tackling congestion is thetransport issue that mat-ters most to Auckland’sfreight transport sector.But not to Auckland

Council, it seems. Instead, its recentlyadopted transport plan accepts fore-casts of higher levels of congestionlong-term than the 2006 starting point,and plans an outcome that will resultin “substantially lower freight vehiclespeeds”.

That is unacceptable to NationalRoad Carriers, and we have toldcouncil so. It is why we have stronglyencouraged the Government to workclosely with the council to fix thisomission and come up with a singleagreed transport strategy that tacklesAuckland’s congestion head on.

The Government has sent a clearmessage that it wants to improve NewZealand’s productivity and efficiency,and allowed introduction of highproductivity motor vehicles (HPMVs),50Max. Auckland’s growing conges-tion is negating these gains.

It costs about $100 an hour tooperate a large truck. Drivers alsohave restricted working hours gov-erned by regulation.

About 8000 heavy trucks are onAuckland roads every working day.Most seek to avoid peak periodswhere they can. But they can nolonger avoid congestion. On-ramps tomotorways are now often cloggedfrom midday. City streets between theindustrial suburbs of South Aucklandand the motorway are heavily con-gested for large parts of the workingday, as they are on routes servingAuckland’s sea, air and rail ports.

Conservatively, each Aucklandtruck operator experiences about 30minutes of congestion delay everyworking day. The estimated loss tothe freight sector is about $400,000 aday – or $2 million a week.

Six years ago Auckland’s estim-ated congestion drag on the economywas about 1-2 per cent of GDP, or a$1.5 billion loss to the economy. It isnow probably far higher.

Every international city has peakperiod congestion, but many othersmanage it far better than Auckland.

For the freight sector, the Govern-ment’s and council’s shared aimshould be a mix of short- and long-term projects to achieve two aims:■ Reduce congestion, especially out-side peak hours, so truck drivers canoperate efficiently and safely withintheir allowable driving hours■ Improve access to areas of Auck-land experiencing rapid urban growthand development. Many of Auckland’srecent housing and retail centredevelopments have been planned anddesigned with little thought to the

roading system required for efficientand safe freight delivery by Auck-land’s new fleet of larger trucks.

Auckland’s transport plan needsto be bolstered immediately with apackage of short-term projects aimedat reducing congestion. They includeprojects to achieve far greater publictransport use, a single citywide traffic

management system, allowing trucksto use busways and bus lanes (outsidepeak hours), better phasing of trafficlights, and a mix of demand manage-ment initiatives.

I acknowledge Auckland can’t con-tinue indefinitely to build its way outof our increasing congestion. Butsome critical “catch-up” capital

investments are required to supportits economic growth, especially tounclog access routes to areas wherefreight and other commercial trafficdominate road use.

Top of the list is the east-westcorridor linking the State Highway 20Western Ring Route at Onehungawith SH1 — the Southern Motorway— at Mt Wellington.

An east-west link has sat ontransport and land use plans since the1960s. Meanwhile, Auckland’s popula-tion has tripled, and the area hasbecome New Zealand’s largest indus-trial and distribution hub and Auck-land’s second biggest area of employ-ment (after the central city). Littlewonder it is also where Auckland’sworst road congestion occurs.

We have strongly encouraged theGovernment to take over the east-westproject from Auckland Council, andget it built — as fast as possible.■ For more information, contactDavid Aitken on 021 771 911 or emaildavid.aitken@natroad.co.nz

Freight thelifebloodof economyWhen trucks gridlock, Auckland stops.Virtually everything manufactured,imported, bought or consumed inAuckland is at some point transportedby truck.If truck movement stopped inAuckland, within the first 24 hoursservice stations would begin to runout of petrol, supermarkets andrestaurants would have no fresh food,building sites and assemblycompanies using just-in-time supplierswould experience materials and partsshortages, and mail and otherpackage deliveries would cease.After a couple of days, food shortageswould develop, motor vehicle fuelavailability would dwindle, exports andimports of goods by sea and airwould cease, as would operations ofmany wholesale and retail businesses.Thousands of Aucklanders wouldsoon be out of work.This demonstrates the criticalimportance of freight and goodsdelivery within Auckland’s transportsystem — when trucks can’t move,Auckland stops.Freight is the backbone of theAuckland economy. It figures that ifwe are serious about improving oureconomy, we must get serious abouttackling Auckland’s worsening trafficcongestion and improving ourproductivity and efficiency.As Auckland’s population grows, it iscritical that we stop congestionspreading through the whole of theworking day as it is starting to do insome areas of the city.

Fixing east-west gridlock

ONEHUNGAMT WELLINGTON

PENROSE

OTAHUHUMANGERE BRIDGE

ManukauHarbour Mangere Inlet

SH20

SH1

Herald graphic

Sylvia

Park Rd

Gt South Rd

Church St

Neilson St

EAST-WEST CORRIDOR

50km

The likely preferred new east-westroad along Mangere Inlet’s northernshoreline — to connect the WesternRing Route and the SouthernMotorway — will be applauded by thefreight sector, especially truck drivers.The Onehunga, Southdown andPenrose area generates around 18 percent of Auckland’s GDP, is Auckland’ssecond highest area for employmentand is seeing a big increase in heavytruck access as the Aucklandeconomy grows.Research in 2007 predicting end-to-endcongestion on local roads through mostof the working day by 2020 has provenall too accurate. Seven minute east-westtrips between Southdown andOnehunga can take nearly an hour, andgetting on to the motorways a further15-20 minutes. Congestion on localroads alone is estimated to cost thefreight industry $25 million a year.Truck drivers have limited hours whenthey can be on the road. An hourwasted stuck in Southdown traffic canbe the vital difference for aninterprovincial freight trip to otherNorth lsland centres, requiring theadditional cost of an overnight stay.If designed properly with freight priority

lanes connecting to the motorways, amodern east-west link will allow freightheading to Northland to use the newWestern Ring Route once the Waterviewtunnels are open in 2017, and giveoptions to freight heading south.The proposed shoreline option hasbenefits of avoiding communityseverance, encouraging repair ofenvironmentally damaged reclaimedland, not taking up valuable industrialland, and protecting options toconnect to the East Tamaki industrialzone and eastern suburbs.The east-west link needs to beaccorded the status of a road ofnational significance and pushedahead for completion by 2021.By Government taking over theproject, not only would the impassebetween Auckland and Wellington’slack of action be resolved, but hopesraised that a serious effort is underway to halt the strangulation bygridlock of Auckland’s economy.There is every incentive for thepreferred route to be confirmed andaction speeded up to get the projectoff plans and into the hands ofconstruction crews.

— David Aitken