Auckland’s $28 billion congestion fix
Where the money goes
Chris Tarpey gave up driving to work two years ago, and a new toll road linking Whangaparaoa Peninsula with Auckland’s Northern Motorway won’t be enough to encourage him off the bus and back into a car. However the NZME video projects manager is pleased the roading project has been included in a $28 billion transport package for greater Auckland, jointly announced yesterday by Auckland Council and the Government. “The idea there will be less congestion on the coast, even though I’ll still take the bus, is significant.” Tarpey and other Whangaparaoa Peninsula residents will benefit from the connection, known as Penlink, which will cut across Stillwater to Stanmore Bay and ease heavy peak-hour congestion on the peninsula’s only main road. “We’ve heard about this project for a long time and I think people who live on the coast, while we’re really pleased about the news, I guess we’ll believe it when we see them break ground.” Tarpey currently pays $220 a month to park and ride from Silverdale to central Auckland, meaning he drives from his home in Stanmore Bay, parks at Silverdale and travels on a bus down the Northern Motorway through Albany to central Auckland. The 29-year-old, who grew up at Gulf Harbour, said traffic getting off the Peninsula in the mornings was “bumper to bumper” and then met with traffic coming from nearby Orewa and north when the three streams converged at Silverdale, creating gridlock. He ended the two-hour one way commute for sanity’s sake.“About a year or two ago I came to the realisation that driving to work was just unrealistic. “I take the Northern Express bus. It came to the point where you’d be looking at a couple of hours just to get to work and that adds to your work day and it’s just too stressful.” Tarpey believes Penlink could knock as much as 20 minutes off a car commute and maybe more for a bus, if a dedicated bus lane was set up. For that reason he believes the proposed two-lane connection won’t be enough and he believes it should be four lanes from the outset.