The Government’s decision to invest an additional billion dollars to “accelerate” an already $20.7 billion fund for a list of Roads of National Significance has been heavily criticised by a transport expert and the Green Party.
The Government invested in roading projects above all as part of $2.68b in transport funding announced in Budget 2024.
This additional $1b is on top of $20.7b in spending to be rolled out between 2024 and 2027 that is focused on 17 major highway projects known as the Roads of National Significance.
“We want construction firms to know that this Government will get on and build roads and we have prioritised funding in place to make this happen,” Transport Minister Simeon Brown said.
A further $939.25 million was also announced in Budget 2024 to repair roads damaged by last year’s severe weather events in the North Island.
But director of transport blog and lobby group Greater Auckland, Matt Lowrie, said such additional funding for the Roads of National Significance was completely inefficient.
“It’s sort of pouring a whole lot more money down a hole really,” Lowrie said.
“Because one of the reasons why these projects are costing so much right now is the construction industry is actually at capacity. There aren’t just people sitting around waiting for a job to do on our roading projects.
“What’s happening is that to do these big projects, we’re having to go overseas and bring in a lot of resource to do that and that costs a lot of money.”
Lowrie said this was the reason prices for these roading projects were going up dramatically.
“It wasn’t that long ago that a $300m or $400m project would be a major, major investment,” he said.
“If you think about the Waterview Tunnel, which was $1.4b, that’s a scratch on the surface of some of these big projects we’re talking about now - and they have far less value.”
Greater Auckland director Matt Lowrie. Photo / Supplied
Greens transport spokeswoman Julie Anne Genter says the Government would get much better outcomes by improving rail, public transport and inter-island ferries than from the spending it has announced for roads. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Green Party transport spokesperson Julie Anne Genter was scathing of the Government’s transport priorities.
“It’s ridiculous. It’s the exact opposite of what New Zealand needs right now in terms of investment in transport infrastructure and it comes at enormous cost to the climate and into a more efficient transport system,” Genter said.
“So there’s billions of dollars going towards a relatively small number of roads when that money could be going to improve rail, public transport and the ferries that we need between the North and South Island. It’s just so unbalanced already.”
Genter said the vast majority of New Zealand’s transport budget has been spent on roads for decades, including under the previous Labour Government.
“Now this Government is doubling down on highways that we know are just not going to reduce congestion and certainly not do anything to make it easier for people to get around New Zealand without having to rely on a private car. And that’s a big cost on households.”
The additional $1b is on top $20.7b in spending already outlined in the Government Policy Statement (GPS) on land transport.
17 Roads of National Significance and major public transport projects.
$500m for a Pothole Prevention Fund.
Supporting the procurement of new trains for the Wellington-Wairarapa and Wellington-Manawatū lines.
10 Roads of Regional Significance
Brown promised voters at last October’s election they could expect spades in the ground on eight Roads of National Significance over the Government’s first three-year term, after relentlessly criticising Labour for failing to deliver infrastructure projects.
The road projects National expected to begin building this term are:
Whangārei to Point Marsden
Cambridge to Piarere
Mill Rd Stage 1
East-West Link
Takitimu North Link Stage 2
Second Mt Victoria tunnel
Belfast to Pegasus motorway and Woodend bypass
Second Ashburton Bridge
He said the Government intended to address the Brynderwyns, calling it a “critically important project”.
“The work being done now is only going to buy seven to 10 years’ worth of resilience on that particular stretch. It’s obviously a key route to Northland and it has to be a top priority going north.”
Tom Dillane is an Auckland-based journalist covering local government and crime as well as sports investigations. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is deputy head of news.
