New harbour crossing – must cater for moving freight and commerce as well as commuters

long-term business and commercial transport needs must be a vital factor in the decision for locating a new harbour crossing location, the chairman of the Auckland Business Forum Michael Barnett said today.


“A $3 billion tunnel that caters only for public transport might be a good idea but I can’t imagine a business case to support it,” he said.


What is needed is an integrated and sustainable solution that meets Auckland’s growth challenge and enables the movement of both people and freight long-term.


Obviously, the efficient operation of business is critical to the ongoing viability of the Auckland region.


While we need to make up our minds on the location of a new harbour crossing to ensure the waterfront development at Wynyard Wharf is not delayed unduly, the three options need to be assessed against the total transport network the region is building, said Mr Barnett. “This includes its linkage with the Western Ring Route and access to east Auckland which is experiencing both fast residential and business growth.”


The Forum looks forward to seeing the full details of the case for each of the three options, but on current trends the most preferable is a tunnel towards Grafton Gully that addresses the large volume of traffic wanting to avoid the central city area and could be linked back into the motorway south of the Newmarket Viaduct.


“Clearly, none of the three options offers a total remedy to Auckland’s cross harbour transport challenges but one will be capable of contributing to solving Auckland’s long term transport problems,” concluded Mr Barnett.