Friday's headlines: Rush-hour traffic in central Auckland predicted to slow to walking pace; Waikato district road toll now 40; Vive Aramoana by Ralph Hotere fetched $183,000 at auction in Auckland.
NZ Herald
The New Zealand Herald says rush-hour traffic in central Auckland will slow to walking pace in 10 years if a central city rail tunnel is not built.
A draft report by transport engineers Sinclair Knight Merz says most bus networks near and in the city centre will be at capacity or overloaded by 2021 in terms of what can be provided on existing roads.
Waikato Times
The Waikato Times leads with a picture of a fiery crash on the outskirts of Hamilton. A silver Mazda Lantis containing two males and two females lost control round a bend and rolled 20 metres along a paddock fence.
One woman, who was thrown from the car, died at the scene. The death takes the Waikato district road toll to 40 - the highest in the country. Also on Thursday: the Land Transport Agency declared State Highway One from Huntly to Hamilton to be the country's ''riskiest'' stretch of highway.
Dominion Post
The Dominion Post reports serious injuries on the Rimutaka Hill Road increasing, and a rise in motorcycle accidents being blamed.
Between 2007 - 2011, there were two deaths and 32 serious crashes between Featherston and Upper Hutt.
Also on the front page, the paper recognises regional achievers with its Wellingtonian of the Year awards. MAS Technology founder Neville Jordan was named overall winner.
The Press
The Press reports that a plan to save Christchurch's Town Hall could yet be undone.
Christchurch City councillors voted unanimously on Thursday to spend an estimated $127 million on repairing the town hall.
But Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee says further discussions are needed, describing it as a very compromised building.
And the families of a pilot and passenger missing for almost eight years are grieving again after the discovery of helicopter wreckage in Fiordland.
ODT
The Otago Daily Times says increasing debt levels at Dunedin City Council have sparked negative attention from Standard & Poor's.
In more on the helicopter crash, the paper says the parents of the Waikato pilot believed to have been at the controls, have made the trek south to take home their son's remains.
And an Otago painting, Vive Aramoana by Ralph Hotere fetched $183,000 at auction in Auckland.
