Dominion Rd Business Owners Cautiously Welcome Preferred Option For Light Rail To Airport

The future of Dominion Road has been sitting on a knife edge ahead of Light Rail announcement by the government with businesses saying they are “cautiously optimistic” on Light Rail plans.

Business Association Manager Gary Holmes says: “Any option other than Light Metro or tunnelled light rail would be a disaster for the livelihood of businesses along Dominion Road, many of which have been here for generations.

Mr Holmes says that of the three options which have been short-listed, two are being received positively by businesses but one option, light rail along Dominion Rd at street level, still has the potential to kill off Dominion Rd business - if it were to proceed.

“Dominion Rd businesses welcome options that include wholly underground Light Metro and tunnelled Light Rail as the impacts of streets being ripped up and access to businesses limited during construction are largely avoided,” Mr Holmes said.

“The real impacts of the City Rail Link have weighed heavily on the minds of our businesses who understandably fear they would not survive the disruption during what would be a multi-year construction period, if Light Rail at street level was the chosen mode,” he added.

“Dominion Rd will never be the same again if that happened. Many of our unique ethnic restaurants and eateries are owned by families who have invested their life savings into creating something special for Auckland. If it is lost, it cannot be replaced,” Mr Holmes said.

The business association pointed out that it was not against mass transit to the airport, saying that they support it on the basis of following a good process, and securing the best possible outcome for the community of Auckland.

“Our livelihoods are at stake, so we are not giving up on this until we are assured that Light Rail along Dominion Rd is without doubt off the table,” My Holmes concluded.

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