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A two-lane Matakana link road has been given the green light with conditions.
A panel of independent commissioners, chaired by Alan Watson, has recommended that Auckland
Transport be granted a Notice of Requirement and associated regional resource consents to construct, operate and maintain the road.
Although the commissioners believed the road should be four-laned from the outset, in line with public submissions, their final report stated that they ‘did not have the ability to impose what may be a better alternative on the requiring authority’.
“We accordingly find that we have no basis to recommend that four lanes be required on the link road in Stage 1 of the project,” the decision stated.
Work on the new 1.35km road, between State Highway 1 and Matakana Road, is expected to start in October. It will be built in two stages – Stage 1 will be two lanes, plus a shared path on the southern side, and Stage 2 will involve widening the road to four lanes and an upgraded berm to incorporate separated walking and cycling paths on both sides of the road.
AT plans to open Stage 1 in 2021 to coincide with the opening of the Puhoi to Warkworth motorway extension. Stage 2 is programmed to happen between 2036 and 2046.
The commissioner’s report summarised that the principal issues in contention were stormwater management, groundwater monitoring, traffic and access, ecology and landscape treatment, and the concerns of the submitters and the impact on their properties and development aspirations.
The conditions imposed in the designation covered a range issues from the construction environmental plan to noise mitigation. Prior to the start of earthworks, AT is required to submit an erosion and sediment control plan and a chemical treatment management plan. It will also be required to submit a fish relocation plan, streamworks offsetting plan, restoration mitigation plan, native lizard plan and kauri dieback plan.
