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Plans for Auckland's Western Wing Route - Source: ONE News/NZ Transport Agency -
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Angry voters have marched along the proposed route of Auckland's Waterview motorway, vowing to make it the defining issue of the Mt Albert by-election.
And while they may not be able to stop the road it appears they have succeeded in scaring off the Transport Minister.
Many of the protesters will lose homes or neighbours when the Waterview connection goes through and they have taken their protest to the very streets which they say will be destroyed when the motorway is put right through.
"They've gotta invest the money and build a tunnel so that we keep our parks - all these parks down here all these houses along here are going," says Rob Black from the Tunnel or Nothing group.
By the most conservative count, 200 homes are directly at risk but it could be nearly twice that.
The residents are also angry at the Transport Minister who told ONE News he will not set foot inside the electorate until the vote is taken. However last month Steven Joyce said he would visit and explain why tunnelling would cost $1.3 billion the government isn't prepared to spend.
"I'll do that probably in the next couple of weeks," he said.
Three weeks later the minister has not fronted up, saying: "It's important that we don't wrap the people up in the political side show that is there".
But Black believes the minister is "running a bit scared".
And what Joyce calls a sideshow, Labour is happy to make the main event.
Labour hopeful David Shearer says a lot of people in Mt albert are facing real uncertainty about what's going to happen to their houses. He says it would be much better for Joyce to come down and talk to them.
But National's candidate says Shearer needs to explain where the extra money for tunnels would come from.
"I call David Shearer the billion dollar man - he can never deliver on his promises," says Melissa Lee.
But she is having to make that argument without the support of her ministerial colleague.
