The Northland by-election has thrown road and rail issues into the spotlight but Northland regional council chair Bill Shepherd says local government arms have been lobbying appropriate government agencies for some time, with varying degrees of success.
Shepherd says a recently released study has highlighted Northland’s economic potential; but also identifies infrastructure – or the lack of it – as a ‘significant handbrake’ on the regional economy.
“Northland badly needs a significantly improved road connection with Auckland as well, including the ‘four-laning’ of the State Highway network all the way from Whangarei to Auckland.”
“Current plans for the proposed Puhoi to Wellsford highway will effectively see the four-laning stop at our southern boundary with Auckland; they don’t go far enough north.”
He says four-laning the entire distance between Whangarei and Auckland is needed to ensure the passage of freight, including export goods, but also help ensure a more resilient route to and from Northland.
There are a number of single-lane bridges that desperately need replacing for safety reasons and councillors are also keen to see Mangakahia Rd from Portland to Kaikohe accorded State Highway status by central government.
“Again, this route is a key part of our regional transportation infrastructure and a critical component of the flow of export freight, including a huge number of logs, in our region.”
Shepherd says the Mangakahia Rd’s importance was graphically illustrated last year when a major winter slip closed State Highway One south of Kawakawa and saw heavy freight diverted via Mangakahia Rd instead.
While the lengthy Mangakahia Rd detour had added considerably to the distance that needed to be travelled to reach points further north, it had effectively been the regional roading lifeline to and from the Far North until the damaged State Highway One route had reopened some days later.
“If central government took over full responsibility for funding Mangakahia Road, it would free up local funds to deal with some other significant local roading issues, for instance dust on logging routes.”
“Council can’t stress enough how essential the rail network, Mangakahia Rd and the proposed four-laning are to maintaining, and even more importantly, growing our future regional prosperity.
“The current controversy over Auckland’s port expansion could see Northport assuming a more important role for the upper North Island in future. If that were to happen, our rail link between Northport and Auckland will be critical.”
Shepherd says the Northland Regional Council has long felt Northland’s rail link is absolutely integral and has “put its money where its mouth is” – investing significantly over a number of years to secure the land needed for a future rail corridor from Marsden Pt.
He says rail will be critical to future discussions around freight movements and linkages to Northland.
