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A late night loop bus at weekends in Warkworth and a zebra crossing at Snells Beach are two of several new potential projects that could be funded from the Rodney Local Board transport targeted rate (TTR).
The Warkworth subdivision had been set to overspend its TTR allocation by $458,000, due to a cost blowout for a planned footpath in McKinney Road, but members voted this month to defer the project.
The original budget for the path was $1.19 million, but Auckland Transport (AT) told the board’s meeting on October 16 that estimate had now almost doubled to just over $2 million.
Staff said as well as construction inflation, this was due to the project requiring a rebuild of a section of path built recently as part of the adjoining John Andrew Drive development to connect various stormwater systems.
Members voted to defer building the path until alternative funding could be found and to reallocate the money saved to investigate and/or carry out the following projects:
• extend the 999 Warkworth Loop bus service to 10pm on Fridays and Saturdays at an estimated cost of $20,000 per year;
• investigate options and costs for changes to the 999 loop service, including the possibility of bus stops closer to Warkworth Primary School, at the Warkworth RSA and nearer the medical centre on Alnwick Street; and extending the route to add John Andrew Drive and McKinney Road to Woodcocks Road, including up to three associated stops;
• upgrade the existing pedestrian refuge in Mahurangi East Road, near Dalton Road, Snells Beach to a zebra crossing; and
• investigate the cost to construct a gravel carpark at Campbell Reserve, Glenmore Drive, Warkworth (see story previous page)
Members also voted to allocate any remaining TTR funding for the Wellsford subdivision to replacing the much-criticised clay pavers in Rodney Street with concrete, and ask AT to come back with options for the proposed work.
AT estimated there would be around $330,000 in surplus TTR funding for the project, which was down considerably from the $1.3 million quoted in its August report.
An AT spokesperson said after the meeting that the difference in figures was because the earlier report didn’t reflect the full cost of the new footpath and rail overbridge from Rodney Street to Centennial Park Road, which was still being carried out.
“Now, being much closer to the project’s completion, this month we were able to provide a full estimate of its total cost to the Rodney Local Board TTR – currently estimated at $3.5 million,” he said.
