The Government is set to announce further details around a $400 million transport resilience fund which could provide another funding avenue for the Thames-Coromandel roading network.

A NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi spokesperson confirmed a pending announcement while outlining ongoing recovery work and funding mechanisms in the Coromandel following Cyclones Gabrielle and Hale.

It follows confirmation Coromandel had been turned down in its bid for $248m in transport network resilience funding under the National Land Transport Programme.

The 2024-2027 Waikato Regional Land Transport Plan (RLTP) contained a bid for $248m in Crown funding for the resilience project, but the Government did not include it in the final 2024-2027 National Land Transport Programme (NLTP).

The Transport Resilience Fund is a $419m investment package to build climate resilience across the national roading network.

It was announced as part of Budget 2023 and is comprised of three Crown-funded components: $100m for low-cost, low-risk (LCLR) resilience projects on state highways; $179m for more complex resilience projects on state highways (small-to-medium); $140m for resilience projects on local roads.

The 2024-27 NLTP has a $100m fund targeted at improving resilience, drainage and reducing whole-of-life costs.

It was confirmed the new fund would be available to low-cost projects, under $2m, which meet the objectives, as assessed by NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi as having high alignment with the Government Policy Statement on land transport.

“NZTA is in the process of confirming decisions for administering this fund and expects to provide information to councils in the near future,” the spokesperson said.

“The Government is also set to announce further details of the Transport Resilience Fund, which is an investment package to build climate resilience across the national roading network, soon, which may provide another funding avenue.”

Coromandel MP Scott Simpson said he would not speculate on the pending announcement.

“Best we wait for the announcement; the timing of that is not for me to speculate on.”

NZTA Transport Agency Waka Kotahi is administering the resilience fund through the Transport Resilience Crown Programme.

It is a seven-year programme which aims to “advance proactive resilience improvements on the roading network to minimise the future damage caused to New Zealand roads by future weather events, which are increasing in frequency and severity because of climate change”.

“Since the 2023 summer storms, which resulted in 50 major slip sites as well as surface flooding-related damage at multiple locations across the Coromandel highway network, NZTA has invested heavily in recovery works around the Coromandel at a cost of over $70m, including the building of the SH25A Taparahi Bridge,” the spokesperson said.

It was confirmed recovery work was continuing, with more than 15 sites across the Coromandel to be completed over the coming months.

“NZTA contractors have just finished repairing an under slip between Hikuai and Ōpoutere, and from early October will be carrying out repairs at Pumpkin Hill, Te Kouma and near Matarangi.

“More will follow through the summer; this work continues to improve resilience and safety around the Coromandel state highway network significantly.

“In addition, the Coromandel state highway network will benefit from its share of over a $4.3 billion spend nationwide for state highway maintenance and operations across the 2024-27 NLTP period, with over 40 lane kilometres of road resealing and rebuilding expected around the Coromandel Peninsula this maintenance season.”

Background on the 2024-27 NLTP for the Waikato

All projects in the NLTP are prioritised on a national basis; there are always more bids for funding than there is available funding. For the 2024-27 NLTP, NZTA received $28.7b in bids from a total forecast income of $23.6b. “Funding demand had been high across the board.”

A total of $1.9b is forecast to be invested in Waikato in the 2024-27 NLTP period. The $1.9b forecast investment includes $403m in maintenance operations, $802m to fix potholes, $562m for improvements, $138m in public transport investment, $4.3m for safety and a $9.6m forecast walking and cycling investment.

Work would progress on two Roads of National Significance, SH1 Cambridge to Piarere and Hamilton Southern Links.

Over the next three years, the Waikato region is forecast to benefit from a national funding injection of more than $2b for road and drainage maintenance and renewals, with a significant volume of road renewals planned in the region over the next three summers.

In total, more than 180 lane km of road would either be rebuilt or resealed this year.