Foreshore safe from bulldozing
The NZTA will not bulldoze any part of a $30 million foreshore restoration in constructing a new motorway connection.
The East-West Connection is an initiative that aims to address issues with transport between major industrial hubs of Auckland city - part of it is improving the connection between Onehunga and Penrose.
NZME originally reported NZTA is proposing to create a 5.5km road that would run through the recently developed Onehunga foreshore.
Following the article NZTA released a statement saying it has no intention of bulldozing or undoing any of the work it carried out in constructing the foreshore.
‘‘The East West project will not undo any of the work that the Transport Agency funded and is proud to have helped complete in November last year to reconnect the Onehunga community with the foreshore again,’’ NZTA Auckland highway manager Brett Gliddon says.
Maungakiekie-Tamaki Local Board chair Simon Randall says the foreshore was future-proofed to accommodate for the construction of the East-West Connection.
‘‘We knew about the East-West Connection before we carried out the restoration of the foreshore and it was accounted for it in the design.
‘‘There is no way there will be a motorway through it and we have worked with NZTA from the early stages on this.’’
Randall says State Highway 20 will be widened but it will be within the existing designation.
Maungakiekie-Tamaki Councillor Denise Krum says she is not a fan of the current NZTA pro- posal as she believes it will have a negative impact on Onehunga port.
The wharf is being targeted by Panuku Development Auckland for the same kind of reinvention as downtown Auckland’s Wynyard Quarter.
‘‘I am very interested in the design that the Onehunga Business Association have made public which pays very close atten- tion to the future of the port.’’
Onehunga Enhancement Society chair Jim Jackson is calling for a master plan to be put into place that takes into account all major developments occurring in the area.
Gliddon says NZTA is working closely with Auckland Council and Panuku and it will not block access to any future port development.