Cash, easing of rules allow cities to tackle black spots

By WAYNE THOMPSON and NZPA

The Government's injection of an extra $47 million into its scheme for minor safety works will allow local bodies to target road safety black spots.

Transport Minister Paul Swain said yesterday the cash doubled the pool of money available for road improvements, such as lighting at intersections and removing hazardous culverts and power poles.

He expected the work would be carried out over the next two years.

Improving roads was a part of the Government's new road-safety strategy which aimed to reduce road casualties to no more than 300 deaths and 4500 hospital admissions a year by 2010.

The Government has relaxed rules for councils wanting to take advantage of the scheme's subsidies.

This meant councils could double the amount that could be spent on any one improvement project, said Rotorua Mayor Grahame Hall.

Councils knew of traffic safety problems that could be fixed for a relatively small sum but were unsolved - because of the expense of having to make a benefit-to-cost analysis to gain subsidy.

"Without a scheme like this, smaller problems would almost never get to the top of the list," Mr Hall said.

North Shore Mayor George Wood said that the higher subsidy was good news for cities.

"This helps councils get on with the job of making our streets safer and enables us to make local decisions quickly and efficiently." A council can now allocate up to 8 per cent of its roading budget for minor safety works and have individual projects of up to $150,000.

Safety works attract a higher subsidy than maintenance works.

The road safety strategy also includes a driver education campaign and enforcement of laws covering drink-driving and speeding.

The Automobile Association says the $47 million was too little to markedly improve road safety.

AA motoring policy manager Jayne Gale said that while the programme was innovative, it was not properly funded.

"Unfortunately, the scope has been drastically curtailed by trying to implement it within the constraints of existing funding - which is demonstrably inadequate," she said.

Finance Minister Michael Cullen was siphoning $600 million a year from motorists in the form of petrol tax.

Safety package

* The $47 million package includes lighting at intersections and removing hazardous culverts and power poles.

* The improvements are part of new strategy which aimed at reducing road casualties to no more than 300 deaths by 2010.

Herald Feature: Cutting the road toll