Government Takes Us Back to the 60s
I am sure the 1960s were great – good music, free love and all. However, it is disappointing to see the direction in which the Ministry of Transport’s government policy statement is taking transport in New Zealand. Someone should tell Steven Joyce that the 60s were 40 odd years ago now and the world has moved on!…
6 Comments On bFM
Following on from yesterday’s post about a possible future Metro system for Auckland, I had an interseting chat with Jose Barbosa on bFM today.
The link to the interview mp3 is here.…
Regional Land Transport Strategy – a quantum shift?
The Auckland Regional Transport Committee’s latest meeting agenda takes particular interest in the progress of the Regional Land Transport Strategy (RLTS), which is being reviewed and updated. Such a review cannot occur quickly enough, in my opinion, as the 2005 RLTS is a roads-centric piece of rubbish.…
Bulldozing the process for Waterview
Whilst it seems government has settled on its prefered option for the Waterview Connection, there is still a lot that will take place before we start to see diggers out and around Mt Albert and Waterview. Well, at least I would hope that a lot would need to take place before beginning such a huge and expensive project – so that the community has proper environmental mitigation and so that we actually know that spending $1.4 billion on this project is worth it.…
Super City – how can we make this work?
The details of the government’s decision to press ahead with a Super-City for Auckland are starting to emerge. It will be done in three separate Acts of Parliament.The first one, which is currently going through parliament under urgency (which means no public consultation) sets up the Auckland Council as a legal entity and also sets a date (November 1 next year) when the existing eight councils in Auckland will be dis-established.…
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.…
Partial Tunnel/Surface Option for Waterview Connection
It was obvious (after yesterday) that the government would end up choosing their “least bad” option for the Waterview Connection. The NZTA has released its prefered option, which involves a surface level motorway between where the Mt Roskill extension to SH20 ends and New North Road (going right through Alan Wood Reserve).…
More dodgy workings from Steven Joyce
Steven Joyce really is beginning to annoy me as Transport Minister. Not only has he trodden all over the people of Mt Albert and Waterview, in deciding to can the Waterview tunnel, but he lives in a bizarre dreamland where he thinks that funding for future transport projects should be dependent upon the current amount of people using a particular type of transport method, rather than the future trends of where the split in transport modes is going.…
Goodbye Tunnel…. and Oakley Creek waterfall
Well the wait seems largely over, although tomorrow we will find out some more details. I shall quote the press release in full:
Affordable options available for Waterview Connection Transport Minister Steven Joyce says the NZ Transport Agency has identified more cost-effective options for the completion of Auckland’s Western Ring Route, meaning the previous government’s expensive debt-funded twin tunnel option will not go ahead.In…
Tunnel Options Axed?
We hear in the NZ Herald today that the government has axed the Waterview Tunnel options, leaving choices between a half-arsed trenched (or perhaps cut & cover) or full surface option.
Transport Minister Steven Joyce is expected to confirm this morning that the Government has no more money to spend on new highways after the $961 million extra it committed in March for the next three years, which were in addition to about $2 billion already available.As…
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