The government will put the financing and construction of the Puhoi-Warkworth Highway out to tender as a public private partnership (PPP), a structure that Transport Minister Simon Bridges says may free up $1 billion of state funding for other projects.
The Auckland-to-Northland link road will be the second of the so-called roads of national significance to be developed using a PPP after the Wellington Gateway Partnership led by a unit of ASX-listed Leighton Holdings won the contract to build the $850 million Transmission Gully motorway north of Wellington, set to open in 2020.
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"Cabinet has approved the NZ Transport Agency to move to the next stage of procurement as a PPP to finance, design and build the project," Bridges said. "NZTA will invite private sector companies to put forward proposals for financing, designing and constructing the highway, with a view to awarding a PPP contract in October 2016."
"If, however, the private sector can't offer value for money, NZTA would instead revert to a more traditional procurement model," Bridges said. "Construction without a PPP would likely begin around two years later than under a PPP."
