Disappointed with road proposal
It was bitterly disappointing to hear the details of the Government’s proposal for Mill Rd as announced in the Auckland transport plan.
The Mill Rd upgrade is the biggest roading project in our area so it was particularly galling to hear that the Government’s plan was actually just a re-announcement of Auckland Council’s old proposal for the first stage of the road.
It is also upsetting to find many people in the south now have the mistaken belief they’re ‘‘getting Mill Rd’’ when in fact what is planned is an upgrade to just a few kilometres in the first 10 years.
It will have little or no effect on reducing traffic delays and congestion on our part of the southern motorway.
As local MPs, my colleague Papakura MP Judith Collins and I successfully lobbied the then National Government to have Mill Rd consented as one project using its fast-track consenting process.
National would have designated Mill Rd a state highway and invested $1billion into the project to ensure that the whole road was properly upgraded.
This is without taxing families hundreds of dollars a year more at the petrol pump.
That plan would have seen Mill Rd four-laned, starting at Manukau, going around Papakura (taking in Stevenson’s new industrial development at Drury) before rejoining the southern motorway between Drury and Ramarama.
It would have had real benefits for people in the south. Now it won’t happen for years.
By promising to follow through only on the first stage – from Manukau to Alfriston School – the new Government has made sure there will be a yawning gap between Papakura and the Stevenson’s development at Drury.
It will mean Pukekohe, Waiuku, Karaka and Drury residents facing the same traffic delays and congestion they do now – and at a time of unprecedented housing growth in the south.
It will also come at a time when residents will be hit with two new fuel tax increases.
The regional fuel tax and the Government’s increase to the national fuel tax mean our people will pay up to 25 cents more a litre - or about $15 extra every time they fill up their tanks – and for very little benefit.
Yes, it’s good that the railway line from Papakura to Pukekohe will finally get electric trains but last week’s decision means the people of Franklin will get less in roading investment.
Meanwhile, billions of dollars will be diverted to fund a tram from the CBD to the airport.
We need a Government that’s focused on delivering major projects to allow people to get to work and around their communities faster and easier.
People in the south deserve better transport links and a better deal than they’re getting.