Public outcry forces tunnel-plan rethink
June 18th, 2009
Fierce community opposition to Auckland’s revised Waterview motorway project has prompted the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider a slightly longer tunnel. It is investigating the feasibility of joining two tunnel sections to keep the road underground for about 2km of a 4.5km link between the Southwestern and Northwestern motorways. The agency last month caused uproar by ditching a $2.7bn plan to run most of road through twin tunnels on cost grounds.
A revised proposal estimated to cost $1.4bn includes two shorter tunnels covering a total of about 1.8km, leaving the rest of the motorway at surface level and destroying up to 365 homes. The first tunnel would be 1.15km long between New North Rd and the intersection of Blockhouse Bay Rd with Great North Rd, at which point the motorway would emerge for about 150 metres before disappearing into a covered trench for 700 metres through Waterview.
Results from investigations will be reported to the agency’s board at a meeting in Auckland late in August, when it is due to decide whether to proceed with the overall project. Auckland City councillors have reserved judgment on the revised plan until receiving a staff report in August outlining mitigation proposals, although it passed a resolution reaffirming a commitment to work with the agency, “for the early completion of the project and to achieve best outcomes for the State Highway 20 Waterview corridor.”
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