This is another Guest Post from Peter:
This is a good speech by Green Party MP Gareth Hughes, focusing on transport matters for his Budget speech:
The Colossus of Roads made me think of putting together a few pictures on Photoshop:
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Why are we paying for 100 or so people to be in parliament when they don’t even show up?
Maybe they are all stuck in traffic!
(PS: What is the road in the image?)
What is the motorway in the photo? Jersey Turnpike?
I’m guessing the one west of Toronto…
Good guess: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontario_Highway_401
Reading the Wikipedia entry… they’re widening, realigning, and building intersecting motorways in a frenzy that makes the proposed Puhoi to Wellsford Motorway look decidedly wimpy. Someone ought to tell them that oil is running out, and all they need for the main road out of town is a chip sealed 2 lane road built around 1900 and some minor upgrades.
The Toronto region is just slightly more populous than Auckland y’know 😉
> Someone ought to tell them that oil is running out,
Ah, Canada will just strip-mine all their surface land for oil sands, and thus, never run out of oil in a politician’s lifetime.
Now we, here in NZ, we are smarter than that! We will just tunnel for all the lignite-to-fuel conversion coal we need, and then choke in the dust & exhaust!
> The Toronto region is just slightly more populous than Auckland y’know 😉
Sacrilege, Admin sounds like he’s supporting motorways. Stone him with rubber chickens! 😉
Its the 401 freeway in Toronto
Steven is just loving that asphalt baby yeah …
Hopefully he never sees the 401 freeway. It might give him ideas.
so if toronto has such an awesome PT network (as per your previous post) then why do they have this incredible massive motorway as well?
I am a big national supporter, but you have to appreciate some of Gareth Hughes points here. How can you justify a Hoilday Highway? the only way it will work is if they PPP the road and allow it to be tolled by a private company or bank. Even then i would be surprised if a private compnay would take it on. If national have any common sense the will drop this highway, expecially now Labour have picked up on it…I notice labour have not complained about the other routes only this one ?
In terms of the rail network around Auckland, yes it is a great idea, but try designating it, though some of the most expensive real estate in Auckland. Waterview is a good example, this route has been designated for over 10 years and only the lawyers have got rich with the complains and protests. NO-ONE WANTS IT IN THEIR BACK YARD….. and to put it underground is going to make un-viable.
A couple of small points, the CRL travels mostly under existing roads which are of course owned by the council so there isn’t to many problems there, it is mainly at the southern end where the council will have to buy land and underground rights that the main issues should occur. Also Waterview has only just had its official designation confirmed as part of the BOA process that has happened this year. Before that it was just a line on a map saying this is where we roughly want it in the same way that the CRL is now.
The CBDRL will not be going through suburban houses like Waterview will, only commercial. Suburbna houses are an issue because people have an attachment to their house, not the same case with a commercial properties, especially the light industrial/commercial between Mt Eden station and New North Road where the biggest effect will be.
Shaddodck st will disappear I would say, maybe Ruru, Flower and Nikau too.
TV3 could be the big issue though! they are on Flower St, potentially theirs is a property that could have to go!
Mark, the funny thing is that rail lines are so much less intrusive than highways, especially with the CRL being underground, this is in fact a total non issue, a few low value commercial building will be replaced in Eden Tce where it surfaces.
But even where on the surface you only need 12 metres of width. I always find it odd that the road lobby loves to claim that Auckland’s topography is unsuited to rail. This like the idea that AK is too low density, is simply a lie. What AK’s long thin and wiggly shape doesn’t suit are motorways and we’ve covered the place with them. There are no problems in completing a world class rail network in AK except for the National party’s intransigence.
18 lanes of freeway, 24 lanes of road, and they still have gridlock. Someone should just tell them that more lanes simply moves the congestion point…
I think the congestion can be attributed to the geography of the area, the highway carries a large portion of Canada – USA traffic. 54 million people live in the Great Lakes area which includes parts of Canada and USA.
Also intercity public transport in Canada is almost as hopeless as it is here, probably worse considering the population density of this area.
The 401 is the main road to Ottawa and Montreal too.
Why build motorways when you can build HSR?
Well, that HSR would stop at the US-Canadian border, and I don’t think the Americans would just leave their cars at the big park and ride and then ride the tran into Canada. I mean a bear could attack their car while they are away 😉
going by wikipedia SH1 in the north island is about 300km longer than the 401 so we beat them there.
Still think that Roadfather poster from a few months back is near unbeatable.