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T E R M 3, 2021
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EASTERN BUSWAY
Transport boss Fog on the water fronts over busway delay PHOTOGRAPHY
By CHRIS HARROWELL
H
Lisa Buckley snapped this wonderful photo at Half Moon Bay Marina mid-morning Saturday. “It was taken just before my husband Kane and I headed off on our walk to Little Bucks. There was an eerie stillness around the marina, reminding me of the American horror film ‘The Fog’,” Lisa told the Times. The fog on Saturday morning enveloped parts of the city right out into Waitemata Harbour and cancelled some flights but the day turned out to be the best in weeks once it burned off.
undreds of people packed into a local church to hear from Auckland Transport (AT) chief executive Shane Ellison about the future of the long-awaited Eastern Busway public transport project. The public meeting at St Columba Church on July 20 was hosted by Pakuranga MP Simeon Brown and Botany MP Christopher Luxon (see page 8). AT publicly announced on June 26 that the project would be delayed by two years and put the reason down to funding constraints. Luxon opened the meeting by saying east Auckland’s population of about 130,000 people is as big as Dunedin or Tauranga. “We are an area experiencing tremendous amounts of growth and how we fundamentally feel is we are chronically under-served with public services out here, particularly around transport. “We feel we are doing it particularly tough. “We’ve been waiting over a decade for a simple 7.6km busway. “Getting that vital link up and running from Botany through to Panmure and the city is very critical.” Ellison spoke to a number of slides
detailing progress on the busway project. He said stage one should be completed in October this year. Road works to move the water main to the new bridge was to be finished by July 23. Upcoming road works to raise the sewer main and complete road links to the new bridge is being carried out from August 16 to September 29. Traffic heading toward Pakuranga will use the new bridge while city-bound traffic will use the existing bridge. Ellison said design and planning of stage two-four of the busway has been awarded to a consortium. A decision on the final scope, cost and timing will be made by AT’s board early next year. He said the Eastern Busway Alliance’s work programme is continuing “at pace” and remains “fully committed” to delivery. It’s looking to consult with the local community before the end of this year. Ellison then detailed the project’s funding. He said the 2021 regional land transport plan (RLTP) identifies funding and timing of projects for the next decade. It includes an additional $199 million for the busway. ➤ Turn to page 3
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