Approval for holiday highway

A board of inquiry has given the go-ahead on a $760 million motorway extension to Warkworth, north of Auckland. It will extend SH1 beyond the toll road between Albany and Puhoi to improve traffic flows to Northland. In its draft decision, the board approved the first stage of the proposed Ara Tuhono Puhoi to Wellsford road of national significance. It’s hoped the four-lane and 18.5km stretch will reduce travel times and boost the regional economy. The plan has been opposed by Labour and the Greens as wasting money and bad for the environment, while the NZTA says construction is anticipated to start between 2015 and 2019 and be completed between 2020 and 2025. The decision is the second recently announced for a major roading project. Another inquiry rejected a $90m flyover to solve congestion around the Basin Reserve in Wellington.