Another Waterview Connection Post

I do promise that I’ll post on things other than the Waterview Connection eventually, but at the moment it is clearly the most controversial and popular transport topic of discussion in Auckland. So I do feel obliged to explore it properly. Furthermore, I do want to take the opportunity to share a bit more of my opinion, and also my concerns on the matter. But for a start let’s have a look at a map showing exactly where the Waterview Connection proposal will run:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=embed&hl=en&geocode=&q=http:%2F%2Fsplash.labour.org.nz%2Fwaterview_nat.kmz&ie=UTF8&t=k&ll=-36.887859,174.712486&spn=0.048809,0.077076&z=14

It would seem that most of the extra 240 houses that will need to be demolished are in two places:

Firstly, in between the deep tunnel under Avondale Heights and the cut and cover tunnel underneath Great North Road there is proposed to be a short area of surface level motorway. When I first saw this I wondered why, and now I realise that it’s to create an area of ventilation for the tunnels – which means that a huge concentration of vehicle exhaust fumes will be coming out of this part:

The dark blue is surface level and the light-blue is cut and cover. Clearly, houses above both areas will need to go. However, I’d be more concerned if I lived in areas around those directly affected – as they will have a noisy motorway and vehicle emissions to contend with. In a way those who lose their whole house are the lucky ones – those who now have a motorway over the back fence are the unlucky ones. And under the Public Works Act, unless they are directly affected (ie. land taken) then they don’t get compensation, even if their house values decline.

The second area where bulldozing houses will be necessary is between Hendon Ave and Alan Wood Reserve:

Now, once again if the route goes through your house in some ways you’re the lucky one. NZTA will purchase those houses at market value and the people will be able to find a place to live elsewhere. There are sob-stories about people living in the same place for decades and yes that is very sad, but in an economic sense they will be fairly compensated. However, the ‘money saved’ by this cheaper option is really coming at the expense of the property values of those in the surrounding area who will not be eligible for compensation under the Public Works Act. This will include the remaining properties on the southern side of Hendon Ave, properties on Bollard Ave and Methuen Road – who will have a motorway instead of a park over their back fence, and also some of the properties on Great North Road and Blockhouse Bay Road that won’t be quite within the desigation area but will still be hugely affected by the motorway.

Bizarrely, effects on property values are not considered in a cost-benefit analysis. If they were, I imagine it would be rather more difficult to get roading projects built. Think of it this way: around 360 properties are going to be directly affected and therefore bought out by NZTA. However, the number of properties that will be in some way affected by this proposal is far larger – perhaps up to ten times as many. If the effect on the values of the wider affected properties results in an average loss of value of $100,000 then that would be around $360 million of costs that the community will have to wear in order for this option to be built. Why isn’t this part of a robust cost-benefit analysis? My cynical side wonders whether it is because such an analysis would result in public transport projects doing better, as they generally have a positive effect on property values. the Ministry of Transport just couldn’t have that now, could they?

There is another aspect of this proposal that greatly worries me, and that is its effects upon the designated Avondale-Southdown Railway Corridor. This railway link has been designated since the 1940s, and while its cross-town nature means that it’s unlikely to be one of Auckland’s most popular passenger train routes, it may be an essential north-south freight link in the future. Freight trains currently have to run via Newmarket if they want to go from the north to the south, and as passenger train frequencies increase in the future it will become increasingly difficult to fit in freight trains. Therefore, for the long-term benefit of Auckland’s rail system it is imperative to keep this rail corridor available.

However, NZTA plans through the Alan Wood Reserve (which is largely designated as a rail corridor) indicate that the rail designation is going to be sacrificed. The map below shows the railway designation (the shaded area). Comparing that to the maps above it’s obvious that the motorway will go on land that is currently designated for rail:

The NZTA diagrams show how they anticipate to be able to fit both the motorway and the railway line between the motorway and any houses along the southern side of Hendon Ave, but critically I think that the new railway corridor will be outside its existing designation area – which will in the long run make it far more difficult for Ontrack to ever re-designate the land in order to build the Avondale Southdown railway link. Effectively, NZTA are screwing Ontrack out of their designation and making it much much harder for Ontrack to ever be able to complete the Avondale Southdown line. Of course, Ontrack would have the right to tell NZTA to bugger off out of their designation – but as both organisations have Steven Joyce as their Minister I imagine the hard word went on Ontrack to give their OK. The typical cross-section of Alan Wood Reserve is shown below:

As the above diagram shows, the 25m rail corridor goes through the houses. But that won’t be NZTA’s problem, that will be Ontrack’s problem in the future.

Just another example of public transport being screwed.

Share this