10. Roading Auckland—Western Ring Route and Waterview TunnelPHIL TWYFORD (Labour—Te Atatū) to the Minister of TransportRoading Auckland—Western Ring Route and Waterview Tunnel10. PHIL TWYFORD (Labour—Te Atatū) to the Minister of Transport: Why has the completion of the $2.4 billion western ring route been delayed and when can Aucklanders expect the new motorway to be open?Hon SIMON BRIDGES (Minister of Transport): The $2.4 billion western ring route completion has not been delayed and remains on track for full completion by the end of 2019. I assume though the member is talking specifically about the Waterview tunnels which are nearing completion. Important pre-opening testing identified some minor faults with some of the tunnels' equipment and now these have substantially been fixed and are being tested. The Transport Agency is on track to open the tunnels within the next 2 months which is a minor delay in the context of what is a several-year multibillion dollar project. Phil Twyford: Is it true that traffic lights are being put on the motorway because the tunnels the Government has built have inadequate ventilation for the number of cars expected to use them?Hon SIMON BRIDGES: No those lights are about managing traffic and I can tell the member and he will see it in the very near future that there will be so many people wanting to go in and see that tunnel that the streamlined use of those lights the judicious use of them will be the right thing. So I will repeat that: the member's claim an old wives' tale is absolutely wrong.Phil Twyford: Does he think it is OK that a $2.4 billion project one of his roads of national significance now needs traffic lights on the motorway which will lead to queues of traffic and even longer journey times for Aucklanders?Hon SIMON BRIDGES: I think the member is being silly and if he is angling for an invite to the opening he is going about it the wrong way. This is a $2.4 billion project that will be a game-changer for Auckland. People will get to see and use the tunnels very shortly and I think they will be impressed by what this means—what has been the biggest infrastructural project to date that this country has seen. Phil Twyford: Can he confirm that transport officials are increasingly worried about the likely traffic volumes when the tunnel is open and the risk that they will actually make the gridlock worse?Hon SIMON BRIDGES: No they are not at all worried. What is true though is that they will be popular in the initial days because literally millions of New Zealanders will want to use it. It is though going to be over time a game-changer for the Auckland Regional Transport Network. We know this is an important issue for it and that is why we have invested and we have worked hard to do projects such as this in our biggest city.Phil Twyford: Why did his Government not include a grade separated rapid transit busway beside the Northwestern Motorway as part of the western ring route project given that Auckland Transport says that it needs to be built within a decade meaning that much of the new motorway that has just been built will have to be dug up within a few years?Hon SIMON BRIDGES: What the member is saying is absolutely wrong. I think he will find the tunnel will take buses and there will be buses in it. But what is also true when the member tries to paint this Government as anti - public transport is that we have invested more than any Government in Auckland in its transportation in the electrification of rail and in multiple public transport projects around Auckland and there is more to come.