Opening of Central Motorway Junction, Auckland

Kia Ora, good afternoon

I’m delighted to be here to open the last stage and completion of the Central Motorway Junction - Auckland’s largest ever motorway construction project.

As Minister for Auckland Issues and Associate Minister for Transport, it is very exciting to be here today marking a major step towards addressing traffic congestion problems in our city.

As most of you will be aware, the group of roads you see before you is affectionately known by Aucklanders as Spaghetti Junction.

Up to 200,000 vehicles travel on State Highway One every day, and up to 160,000 vehicles use State Highway 16, snaking their way through the junction on what has become the busiest stretch of highway in New Zealand.

But this project, with its four new strategic motorway links, does more than just - to borrow an expression - add “oodles to the noodles”.

The completion of the Central Motorway Junction is a major step towards solving Auckland’s traffic issues and in turn, progressing the Government’s key goal of transforming the economy.

This government is working to remove the infrastructure constraints that have held back world-class performance in Auckland. Auckland cannot realise its potential as a world-class international city, if people and good cannot move rapidly through it.

First, I would like to acknowledge Auckland Mayor Dick Hubbard and the team from Transit New Zealand, Chairperson, David Stubbs, Chief Executive, Rick van Barneveld, General Manager Capital Projects, Colin Crampton, and Auckland Manager, Peter Spies [pronounced Spees] who have led this project.

Today, we also celebrate the success of the joint venture construction team who completed stage two of this development – Fletcher Construction and Leighton Contractors, alongside engineers Sinclair Knight and Merz and designers Beca Carter Hollings and Ferner. To all the sub-contractors involved congratulations on a fantastic team effort.

Not only was the project completed on time, but significant value was added along the way and I congratulate you all for your commitment - you should all be extremely proud.
The project has also been closely followed by the residents of this city - ultimately the main users of this roadway - and I want to thank all Aucklanders for their patience during the construction.

The last stage of this project certainly took some building. The construction includes more than 750 metres of new viaducts and bridges, 2 kilometres of retaining walls and 80,000 tonnes of asphalt.

The end result: from today, navigating Spaghetti Junction will be easier, quicker and safer for all motorists.

We now have direct links between the North Shore and Auckland’s Eastern and Western suburbs - improving access to the Central Business District, Auckland Hospital, Mission Bay and Parnell.

These new links provide all the missing cross-city connections and improve access for public transport.

The changes will ensure consistent traffic speeds, simplify decision making for drivers and, importantly, reduce congestion.

The environmental benefits of reduced traffic congestion are clear. We know almost 20% of our total greenhouse gas emissions come from transport.

We also know a reduction in congestion and reduced travel times cut the emission of vehicle pollutants.

The Auckland Road Pricing Evaluation study found that carcinogenic emissions from vehicles could be reduced by up to 18% with even a moderate reduction in congestion.

Add to that the estimated $442 million annual cost to the country from harmful emissions, and the benefits of an efficient transport network are impossible to ignore.

But the payback for this project goes beyond Auckland. As the gateway to New Zealand, improved infrastructure in our biggest city will ensure we do not place barriers on our growing economy.

We want New Zealand to be a country that produces superior goods and services that are highly competitive in the global market and to do that, we must have quality infrastructure.

The Government is committed to this and this year allocated a record $2.3 billion to transport spending as part of the Budget 2006 funding package.

But let me make it clear, the Government is committed to more than just roading investment - we want a sustainable, integrated transport system and to do that, we need to expand passenger transport services.

This development has improved bus access for Aucklanders and coupled with further government investment in the urban passenger rail network, the Western Ring Route and the completion of the Northern Busway, we are on track to achieve the transport system we want.

By 2011, as the world descends upon Auckland for the Rugby World Cup, the city will be ready to show its face to the world.

Today marks another step towards guaranteeing the Auckland we show off, is world class.

I hope you will join with me in congratulating everyone who made this vital new part of our highway network such a success.