Road plan in the works

BY IMOGEN NEALE

The development of Mill Rd might be 10 years away but when the new Auckland Council takes over next year the Papakura District Council wants to be able to hand it a set of plans that have been developed with community input.

Late last week the council released options for the development of the Mill Rd traffic corridor on its www.papakura.govt.nz website.

It also posted details about information days - starting with one next Monday at the Alfriston Hall from 4pm to 7pm.

When it's finished the Mill Rd corridor will be a major arterial transport route running from Redoubt Rd in Manukau to the Stevenson's industrial park project in Drury.

Work is unlikely to begin for at least 10 years and by 2020 the road's expected to be carrying 40,000 vehicles a day.

The need for an upgrade was identified five years ago in the Auckland Regional Transport Authority's southern sector transport strategy.

An alternative north-south route was needed to ease pressure on the southern motorway and Great South Rd and accommodate population growth in Takanini and Flat Bush.

The study estimated that by 2050 Papakura will have 52,000 more residents, Manukau 178,000 more and Franklin 43,000 more.

Papakura mayor Calum Penrose says the Mill Rd project is still at the early stage of "exploring the best way the corridor should be developed".

"No final decision has been made on its form though in some sections existing roads provide an indication of where the development might be directed in order to complete the route efficiently with least disruption to private property.

"In other sections there are limited options."

The Manukau City Council is a few steps ahead of Papakura - two weeks ago it chose its preferred option for its section of the route.

That route was chosen after a year of consultation with residents and creates a new road on undeveloped land along the boundary of Totara Park.

Last week the Manukau Courier reported residents on the Manukau side of the traffic corridor were relieved a decision had been made but were concerned they hadn't seen similar plans from Papakura.

But Mr Penrose says his council's delay is partially because of the sheer size of Papakura's project.

"Manukau's part of the project is a relatively short section of road and they discounted options very early on in their process.

"Papakura District Council is at a different phase of the study.

"By attending the information days and providing quality feedback the residents of Papakura will have input into the project before decisions are made."

The council's Mill Rd corridor study sets out the route's development in four sections: Northern, central residential and central industrial and southern.

Each section is accompanied by a set of objectives - such as managing increasing traffic volumes - and key features including speed limits, lane numbers and median designs.

"The intention is to get the initial planning phases well under way and be able to hand over to the new Auckland Council a developed plan for the corridor," Mr Penrose says.

The consultation phase is "very important", he says.

"The gathering of information from the community will ensure their views have been taken into account and any issues they raise have been noted."

Information days will be held on November 30 at the Alfriston Hall 4pm to 7pm; December 2 at the Red Hill Community Centre 11am to 1.30pm and again from 4pm-7pm; and December 3 at Drury Hall 4pm to 7pm.

A further meeting will be held at Accent Point on February 8. The time is yet to be confirmed.

For more information see www.papakura.govt.nz.

- © Fairfax NZ News