Board picks up AT funding shortfall

Raised pedestrian crossings in Wellsford ($200,000) and Hauraki Road Leigh ($150,000) will proceed despite an Auckland Transport (AT) request that they be deferred.

The Rodney Local Board decided at its meeting on September 21 to fund the projects through its Transport Targeted Rate.

AT requested the deferrals on the basis that it faced significant pressure on operational expenditure, principally due to a slower than expected recovery of public transport patronage.

While it had been given a moderate increase in operating funding in the 2022/23 financial year, it had also agreed to defer capital expenditure by $223 million over the next three years.

The Transport Capital Fund for Local Boards has been slashed from $20 million to $10.3 million. For Rodney, this means the 2022/23 financial year allocation is reduced from just over $1.1 million to $607,383. Current commitments amount to $411,380, leaving a balance of just $196,003.

A ‘carry over’ budget of $917,931 was approved, which would increase the total budget this financial year to just over $1.5 million, but ‘carry over’ funding was subject to under-spending on other work programmes.

As well as the Wellsford and Leigh projects, the Board was also asked to defer a school pedestrian crossing at Kaukapakapa, but this will be included in targeted rate spending as well.

Work on the Leigh crossing is due to start next January, while the design of the Wellsford project is expected to be finished in December.

Local projects that remain in the AT budget for delivery this financial year include:
• A raised pedestrian crossing on Mansel Drive in Warkworth – $260,000
• A raised crossing/traffic calming at Warkworth Primary School – $$260,000
• Point Wells traffic calming – $100,000
• Puhoi electronic speed monitor – $22,500
• Krippner Road Puhoi red carpet street coating – $16,000.