Transport Minister Phil Twyford and Auckland Mayor Phil Goff are expected today to announce funding for two major new roading projects in Auckland - Penlink and Mill Road.
The New Zealand Herald reports that Penlink, to the north of the city, will provide a new connection between the Whangaparaoa Peninsula and the Northern Motorway while Mill Rd in the city's south, will improve the connection from Manukau through Takanini to Drury.
The projects are part of a new 10-year funding package for Auckland transport, to be released today by Mr Twyford and Mr Goff, and both will have major implications for the property markets of both areas.
Twyford told the Herald the package is "the biggest infrastructure programme in New Zealand's history", although he declined to reveal the total amount to be spent.
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The package will replace National's 10-year programme costed at $24 billion in 2016, which rose to $26.9b in 2017. That suggests Mr Twyford and Mr Goff will announce funding of $30b or more for the 10-year period.
Penlink will run through Stillwater to join the motorway at Dairy Flat, taking pressure off the heavily congested arterial route through Silverdale. Twyford told the Herald the new Government will allocate $200 million to get the road built within the next 10 years.
It will be a two-lane highway, future proofed to enable later expansion to four lanes. Mr Twyford said the work will include measures to ease congestion at the Silverdale interchange and improvements to the Northern Busway.
He expected Penlink would be built as a public-private partnership (PPP), which means it's likely to be a toll road.
Twyford said $500 million will be allocated to Mill Rd in the next 10 years. "It's a vital artery in South Auckland and is essential to managing the surge in growth in the southern corridor."
The work will be on stage one, at the northern end of the project. Twyford said they would add capacity to the existing two-lane local road, relieve congestion at intersections, make safety improvements at the north end, connect to the new special housing areas and provide a new interchange at Drury South.
There will also be route protection and land purchases to enable stage two, at some stage in the future, which will focus on the southern section of the road.
"Improvements to roads are important to support the rapid greenfields growth in some parts of the city," he said.
Drury is one of those areas. Auckland Council expects it will see over 40,000 new homes built and around 20,000 new jobs created in the next 30 years.
Putting the focus on rapid transit means there will be more projects than those already announced. The Government has already said it wants to build light rail from downtown Auckland through Mt Roskill and Mangere to the airport, and a new rapid busway from Puhinui (near Manukau) to the airport.
Mr Twyford confirmed other rapid transit projects would also be funded, but declined to say what they would be. He and Mr Goff will announce details of the 10-year transport package at at noon today.
Extra rapid transit projects that could be started in the next 10 years include light rail alongside the Northwest Motorway to Westgate, a rapid bus route from Manukau through Botany to Howick, a rapid bus route through Hillsborough and more rapid bus routes on the North Shore.
Property Institute of New Zealand chief executive Ashley Church praised the announcement and said both projects would encourage residential development.
"The announcement is a clear indication that it was the right call to put Twyford in charge of transport and housing. Both project tick all the boxes on infrastructure and infill."
Mr Church said Penlink was a project that had long been advocated and was long overdue. He said PPP was the right call and would solve funding issues that had previously hampered the project.
"Penlink will dramatically cut commuting times for those living in the Whangaparoa Peninsula, and likely lead to greater interest in the area's property market.
"But more importantly Penlink creates an opportunity for the development of greenfield sites along the proposed transport corridor."
Corelogic data shows that Whangaparoa suburbs are lower priced than Auckland as a whole, and that market actitivy there has also been sluggish in comparison.
Compared to Auckland, growth in Whangaparoa has been slower over the past five years. There have also been slight price falls over the past year, compared to the small gains experienced in Auckland.
Corelogic Senior Research Analyst Kelvin Davidson said: "It's fair to assume that the new roading investment will create a foundation for these Whangaparoa suburbs to play catch-up."
