$665m to be invested in upgrading BOP roads

Phil Twyford.

Transport Minister Phil Twyford announced that a record $665 million investment for the Bay of Plenty today will deliver a safer, better connected and more resilient transport system over the next three years.

The NZ Transport Agency has published details of the planned investment in the Bay of Plenty's transport system over the next three years as part a record $16.9 billion investment in New Zealand's transport system set out in the 2018/21 National Land Transport Programme (NLTP). Read more of a breakdown of the NLTP on the NZTA website.

Phil Twyford says the $665 million investment planned for Bay of Plenty over the next three years marks a six per cent increase compared to the previous three yearly 2015/18 NLTP, and a 14 per cent per cent increase from 2012/15.

The $665 million investment in Bay of Plenty through the 2018/21 NLTP includes $510 million from the National Land Transport Fund generated through fuel excise, road user charges, and other revenue sources; with $137 million from local government and $17 million in direct Crown funding.

'This record investment in our transport system will help grow our regions, make it easier to get around our cities, and save lives on our roads. It will deliver the best results for our transport dollar,” says Phil.

'Safety is a top priority for this government. The increasing number of people dying on Bay of Plenty roads is unacceptable.

"Over the next three years, we will invest $235m in safety across all activity classes, including improvements to save lives."

This includes safety upgrades on SH2 between Waihi and Tauranga to reduce the risk of head-on and run-off crashes, as well as safety improvements on SH33 from Paengaroa to Te Ngae Road. $65 million has been allocated to the SH2 Waihi to Ōmokoroa Safer Corridor project in the NLTP 2018-2021, as part of an $87 million, five-year project of safety improvements on this route.

'State highways continue to receive the largest share of funding. We will invest $155 million for state highway improvements and $154 million for state highway maintenance," says Phil.

'Investment through the NLTP will contribute to a land transport system for the Bay of Plenty that will be safer and easier for people to use, recognising the popularity of the region as a place where people want to live and work, the growth of tourism, the pressure on land usage, and the need to provide more safe travel options."

Full details of the investments being made through the National Land Transport Programme, including detailed regional breakdowns, can be found at www.nzta.govt.nz

Bay of Plenty Labour List MP Angie Warren-Clark is pleased to see that a record $665 million will be invested into transport for the Bay of Plenty, to deliver a safer, better connected and more resilient transport system over the next three years.

"This is a six per cent increase and ensures we're getting our fair population share of transport spend."

In particular, Angie is pleased the $235 million in safety investment across all transport activity classes, including safety upgrades between Waihi and Tauranga, to reduce crashes, $65 million has been dedicated to SH2 Waihi to Omokoroa Safer Corridor project, as part of an $87 million, five year project of safety improvements on this route.

Angie is delighted that $70 million will be invested for public transport, $60 million for walking and cycling improvements, $169 million for local road maintenance which shows our government is addressing local community needs and paying attention to our regions.

"We eagerly await the outcome of the re-evaluation of the Tauranga Northern Link (TNL). The TNL is one of 12 projects across New Zealand that are being re-evaluated to ensure it meets our governments transport principals of, Safety, Access, Environment and value for money."

Angie notes that safety work has already commenced with the approval earlier this year of $87.1 million for the construction of safety improvements to be rolled out from Waihi to Ōmokoroa over the next five years.

Following this decision, $65 million has been allocated specifically to this project in the 2018-21 National Land Transport Plan which will be broken into 10 phases to support traffic flow while work is being completed.

"These improvements show that our Government is listening to the needs of our Region and working towards long overdue solutions, so that our family and friends can make it home safely."

Angiek will continue to advocate for the community's roading needs and undertakes to ensure the community is kept up to date with progress.

Record transport investment to get New Zealand moving and save lives

Transport Minister Phil Twyford announced a record $16.9b investment in the land transport system over the next three years to deliver a safer, better connected and more resilient transport system that will get New Zealand moving.

The planned investments are detailed in the 2018-21 National Land Transport Programme (NLTP), published today by the NZ Transport Agency. The $16.9b investment over the next three years marks an increase of 18 per cent from the previous 2015/18 NLTP, and a 44 per cent increase from 2012/15.

The NLTP comprises $12.9b from the National Land Transport Fund, generated through fuel excise, road user charges, and other revenue sources; $3.4b from local government, generated through rates and Auckland's Regional Fuel Tax; and $557m in other Crown investments.

'This record investment in our transport system will help grow our regions, make it easier to get around our cities, and save lives on our roads. It will deliver the best results for our transport dollar,” says Phil.

'Our Government is making safety a priority. $4.3b of investment will go into programmes and projects that will save lives by preventing accidents or reducing their severity. This will include revamping intersections to stop collisions, installing median barriers in high-risk areas, and increasing road policing. Roads receiving safety upgrades will include Dome Valley, Drury to Paerata, Waihi to Tauranga, and the Hawke's Bay Expressway.

'Most roading investment will go to the regions, rather than the big cities. This reverses the situation in the last three years, when most of roading investment went to the metro centres. In total, our neglected regional roads will receive $5.8b of funding, a $600m increase. This compares to $5b for roading in metro areas. A further $300m will be invested in the regions in non-roading projects. This will create new economic opportunities and make travelling safer. Significant investment will be made to improve freight connections to ports, airports and distribution centres.

'To ease congestion and make our cities healthier places to live, nearly $4b will be invested in public transport, rapid transit, and rail, with a further $390m for walking and cycling. This will fund projects like the AMETI busway, renewal work on Wellington's rail tracks, the Skypath and Seapath walk/cycleways, and investigation of a new commuter ferry service in Queenstown.

'State highways continue to receive the largest share of funding with a total of $5.7b. We will invest $3.5b in new state highway projects like Puhoi to Warkworth, the Waikato Expressway, the Mt Messenger bypass, the Manawatu Gorge replacement, Transmission Gully, and the Christchurch Southern Motorway. A further $2.2b will be invested in state highway maintenance."

Full details of the investments being made through the National Land Transport Programme, including detailed regional breakdowns, can be found at www.nzta.govt.nz

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4 comments

Good one Labour

Posted on 31-08-2018 13:34 | By Chookymac

Let this be done.Thank you to all those concerned.And thanks for sticking it up Bridges and Co


unconfuse me

Posted on 31-08-2018 14:30 | By dave4u

Does that mean we are getting a 4 lane highway from town to tepuna or town to omokoroa or town to waihi with the existing one used for rural connections as it is to town now. or is it a few more red poles in the middle of the road from town to waihi on the existing road????


Anyone any clearer yet?

Posted on 31-08-2018 18:39 | By Bay Citizen

So we STILL have no idea what works will be carried out. Tauranga Northern Link? Katikati bypass? Upgrading SH2? All we see is tens of millions allocated for "safety improvements". If this turns into an overly expensive exercise in installing median barriers and lowering speed limits it will be an outrage. We need the bypass, the TNL, and four laning of SH2. At the very least, more overtaking lanes and redesigned junctions with slip lanes for the busier side roads like Omokoroa.


Trust

Posted on 01-09-2018 08:21 | By rastus

Do I trust a labor government - yeah right!


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