Puhoi-Wellsford videos
I hadn’t actually noticed these before, but there are a number of Youtube videos about the Puhoi-Wellsford Road beyond just the alignment of the Puhoi-Warkworth section. We have:
Project overview: Ground conditions/geology: Road Design: Environment: Traffic: Ecology: Noise: Watching these videos I do get a slightly weird feeling that everyone knows this project’s a huge waste of money, but they’re going through the motions simply because they have to.…
6 Comments Puhoi-Warkworth: my submission
NZTA’s preferred alignment for the Puhoi-Warkworth section of the Puhoi-Wellsford “holiday highway” is currently open for submission – until January 28th. I went to an open day on the alignment late last year – and blogged about some of the details at the time.…
Len Brown on CBD rail tunnel
There’s an interesting interview of Auckland Council mayor Len Brown in today’s NZ Herald. In particular, he talks about the CBD Rail Tunnel quite a bit:
What progress do you hope to make this year on the rail loop?
By the end of the year we will be through defining the route, seriously into the consenting process, defined the funding, firmly on track towards the initial construction and I’m quietly confident the Government will be behind the project.…
Bypassing Warkworth
Despite what the Minister of Transport says, it is clear that one of the main reasons for the Puhoi-Wellsford road of national significance becoming a priority is to alleviate traffic congestion that happens north of Auckland during holiday times. Of course that’s not the only reason for the project becoming a priority – that seems to be a delusion (in my opinion) that saving 5-10 minutes off a trip between Puhoi and Wellsford is going to make the world of difference to Northland’s economy.…
Surprise, surprise
As I predicted a couple of days ago, the NZ Herald reports on yesterday’s traffic jams around Warkworth:
Bumper-to-bumper traffic stretched almost the length of the 7.5km toll road between Orewa and Puhoi for three hours from late yesterday morning.
Some hot and frustrated drivers and passengers got out of their cars to stretch their legs and cool off.…
Don’t drive north tomorrow
Tomorrow there will be a huge traffic jam heading north of Auckland, particularly as the result of the Warkworth bottleneck. The same thing happens every December 27th, everyone says how horrible the traffic jam is, and the “need” for the holiday highway is supposedly underlined.…
Has 2010 been a good year for public transport?
As the year draws to a close I have been having a few discussions with friends about whether 2010 has been a good year for public transport or not. There are probably arguments either way.
On the bright side first Perhaps the biggest boost was the results of the Auckland Council local government election, and in particular the election of Mayor Len Brown on a very strong public transport platform. …
Review of CBD tunnel business case – but why not of holiday highway?
Today’s announcement that government agencies, in conjunction with Auckland Council and Auckland Transport, will be undertaking a good in depth analysis and review of the Auckland CBD Tunnel business case is most probably a useful step forwards – as it at least represents a step further along the process to making this proposal a reality.…
The Uncertain Future
A number of international stories have caught my attention recently. I’ve been thinking about how they relate to NZ and Auckland in particular. The more I’ve reflected on them the more I’ve become convinced that the future is very uncertain technologically (more than anytime previously) and of critical importance will be our need for a flexible, efficient, transport system.…
More Double Standards from Joyce
Green MP Gareth Hughes put a few tricky questions about the holiday highway to Steven Joyce in parliament today: You can read the transcript here.
While Mr Hughes fell for the typical mistake of trying to score a “king hit” with a rather too all encompassing assumption (even I somewhat agree with Steven Joyce when he says that it’s far too simple to say that public transport will always solve the problem and roads never will), the best question he asked by far – and the one that made Joyce squirm a bit in his reply, is outlined below:
Gareth Hughes: Given the Minister has said that more analysis is needed, why did he commit billions of dollars to the Pūhoi to Wellsford “Holiday Highway” in March 2009 when the business case was not completed until 9 months later, in December 2009, and, as the Minister said only 4 weeks ago, “No work had been done on this project prior to it being confirmed as a road of national significance”?…
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