The Auckland south-western motorway now goes 13km from the airport to Mt Roskill but on Friday, another 4km to Sandringham Rd will open. This motorway is called State Highway 20 (SH20). The plan is for this motorway to continue further so that it links up with the north-western motorway, making a ring road around the city. This will mean that people living on the North Shore can travel to the airport without going through the city.

However, to finish SH20, 365 houses will be taken away or pushed over by a bulldozer. The owners will get money from the government for their house but many people do not want to leave their homes. The Labour government under Helen Clark planned to build a 5km tunnel instead. The National government today decided that the new SH20 extension will be mostly above ground but there will be smaller tunnels. This would save $1 billion, they said.

This extension to SH20 is mostly in the Mt Albert electorate. People in this electorate will vote for a new MP on June 13th. People who are angry about losing their house will probably vote for the Labour candidate.

The Green candidate says that a motorway extension is old thinking. Auckland needs better public transport not more roads.