Locals will be as gutted as I am that the Eastern Busway has been shelved for another two years.
The project now faces another inexplicable setback, having lost the funding that had been promised in the council’s 10 year Regional Land Transport Plan. The decision came as a complete surprise to me and to my colleague, Pakuranga MP Simeon Brown (see page p16), and looks to have blindsided Auckland councillors as well.
130,000 east Aucklanders have waited over a decade for a critical rapid transit link to connect our communities to greater Auckland.
Despite paying the Auckland regional fuel tax introduced by Labour three years ago, which was supposed to fund important transport projects, locals have little to show for the hit their back pockets have taken.
Our communities remain chronically under-served by public transport options out east.
The Eastern Busway is vital to solving congestion issues in the wider transport network.
Building it would create jobs and ensure rapid growth in the east Auckland area can be managed for the future.
The busway being put on ice makes the Labour Government’s proposed $785 million cycleway across the Waitematā even more of a slap in the face.
For just a fraction less than it would cost to build the $867 million Pakuranga to Botany stage of the busway, the Government has instead decide to throw money at a vanity project and so-called tourist attraction that will do next to nothing to get commuters out of gridlock or ease our supply chain challenges.
Instead of a critical link that would connect 30,000 people each day to education and employment, east Aucklanders are getting a cycle bridge that might carry 3000 people over the Auckland Harbour on a sunny day.
National would build the Eastern Busway and prioritise transport spending in Auckland and throughout New Zealand.
Labour are continuing to show their priorities in transport are totally warped.
The Government is determined to get people out of cars by any means necessary – including deliberately slowing down traffic, trying to force mode shift through a cycle bridge and telling Kiwis what utes they can and can’t “legitimately” buy.
Light rail has been further delayed and re-evaluated. Mill Road, the widening of the Southern Motorway and the Tauranga Northern Link investment announced only last year, have all been cancelled.
Councils are being told there isn’t enough money to maintain regional roads or make crucial safety improvements – yet we have $785 million allocated to a cycle bridge.
East Auckland is suffering from a continued lack of delivery by Labour.
The Eastern Busway cannot be delayed any longer. Simeon Brown and I will be keeping the pressure on. We will continue to fight strongly and loudly for the vital link to wider Auckland that our communities desperately need.
- Christopher Luxon, MP for Botany
