The 2014 budget was released today and as expected it further reinforced the governments commitments to more roads. There were two key announcements:
- How the government will fund the road fest they announced last year.
- Additional funding for Kiwirail’s turn around plan.
Here’s the details about the motorway spending:
$375m to accelerate Auckland transport projects
Budget 2014 provides $375 million of new capital funding for the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) to accelerate $815 million worth of Auckland transport projects, Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee says.
The projects will address congestion in our largest city, capitalise on the benefits of major roading projects already under way, such as the Western Ring Route, and improve access to Auckland International Airport.
“No Government has invested so heavily in transport infrastructure across all transport modes,” Mr Brownlee says.
“But with freight demand forecast to grow by around 50 per cent across the country in the next 30 years, and by almost 80 per cent in Auckland, and with a growing population, we’ve decided to bring a number of important projects forward.”
The programme to deliver the Auckland transport package is:
Delivery of projects on the Northern Corridor, Southern Corridor and State Highway 20A (as outlined in the following table) by 2019/20 ($800 million).
Further investigations to determine the preferred scope of the East-West Link over 2014/15 ($10 million).
Progression of the Panmure to Pakuranga phase of the Auckland Manukau Eastern Transport Initiative (AMETI) over 2014/15 ($5 million).
“Some of these projects were up to a decade from starting, but we’ve decided they simply must begin sooner to give Auckland the best opportunity of moving people and goods around the region,” Mr Brownlee says.The $375 million will be transferred to NZTA as an interest-free loan, to be repaid to the Crown by funding currently allocated to these projects in the National Land Transport Fund up to 2026/27.
The Government is also announcing today $32.7 million of new operating funding over the next four years to cover the debt financing cost to the Crown of the interest-free loan.
Funding these projects by way of a loan is really just a way the government can push these projects ahead without actually have to come up with the cash now. Additionally the loan will be paid off through the NLTF meaning it will tie up that funding source for decades.
I will do a more detailed post later.
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What happened to the Northern Busway extension being part of the northern corridor project?
Last plans I saw ‘future proofed’ i.e. didn’t exclude it but didn’t build it either. Widening intersections and motorways is all this government is interested in. I mean who in government would want to back a mode with so much growth and so much growth potential like PT or cycling, much better to spend future tax revenues on a mode that fewer and fewer people want to be restricted to.
It would appear that Mr Brownlee’s definition of “all transport modes” is different to everyone else’s. Perhaps his comment was a mistake and he meant to say: “No Government has invested so heavily in transport infrastructure across all transport roads.” The two words rhyme, after all.
Sadly predictable. But at least it provides a clear point of difference for the election…
This post doesn’t mention it, but the budget gave $198m to KiwiRail, so “all transport modes” is accurate.
Only if you ignore buses, cycling and walking.
Meanwhile, here is evidence that in the US, where conservative really means conservative they have accepted that we are in a new century:
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/transit-gives-millennials-an-off-ramp-from-cars/
Not a post worth remarking on except for its source. American Conservative is just that: American and uber conservative.
Furthermore I would note that the gov saying recognises that Auckland is growing so fast it needs transport investment then ignoring the Council’s priority for that investment by just plucking a variety of mega road projects out of their hat is indicative of their idea of partnership and democracy. They can hold the country’s development back by spending lavishly on the already over provided for mode but they can’t prevent the growth in demand for the missing modes.
Its all so depressing.
I need to leave
Canada Working holidays are valid until your’re 35 😉
Believe it or not that is my plan haha. Decided about 2 weeks ago that I am going after I graduate. Then going overseas for masters too.
Great idea! Hello working transport systems in Vancouver! I would love to live there for awhile and see how much they exceed anything in Auckland.
It doesn’t seem as if the NZ government’s obsession with roads will ever change…
That’s the plan. Will make it that much harder coming back though, I suspect.
Luckily I don’t have to come back postgraduate will be in Europe and I can live there as long as I please
If that friggin East West Link gets built, I’ll bowl Gerry down it and use the rest of his cronies as skittles.
Who wants dibs?
National can be voted out this year if we want
+1
Well indeed, but are transport issues an election issue? Furthermore, I can imagine these being popular policies. People do like them some roads.
And who would you vote for? Did you see Labour’s effort at a transport policy a few weeks back? They’re the same party with different coloured branding.
Trucks out of the fast lane? That’s not Labour’s complete transport policy. They continue to support an immediate start on the CRL with 50% central government funding. The rest of the policy hasn’t been released yet.
Interesting they are publishing BCRs for these. You’d struggle to find similar numbers for the RoNS in publicity.
“The Government is also announcing today $32.7 million of new operating funding over the next four years to cover the debt financing cost to the Crown of the interest-free loan.”
That’s then end of the ‘roads are paid for by the users’ argument if you ever believed it. There’s 12 years of this before it is repaid, assuming the NLTF is in any state to do so in 2026/27.
Accelerating 20a is a worry. There isn’t a designation for rail to the airport – I seriously doubt there ever will be if 20a is widened
Are they intending to widen it? I thought they were only making it into a motorway, which would just need grade separation for the intersections.
off with his head!
It’s interesting that the one piece of motorway that does need to be addressed (the 2 lane overpass at Mt Wellington) never seems to warrant a mention. That is one key contributor to congestion on the Southern Motorway and is dangerous.
Actually, exactly that 2-lane section has been investigated in detail by NZTA, and they found that if they widened it, the congestion would get worse – because all that would happen is that more traffic would manage to get 1-2 km further along, until the next two on-ramps would clog it up, but much more viciously, as the extra traffic would come together much more concentratedly. The 2-lane section was found to act as a overpressure valve ensuring that overall, SH1 north of Church Street keeps flowing for longer, with more throughput than if it was widened to 3 lanes.
So short of a crazy project to add another full lane from Church Street to Greenlane, all you’d get by widening Mt Wellington would be a spending lot of tax money to get to the bigger traffic jam faster. Ironic, that in an annoucement of 800 million for more traffic jams someone immediately calls for another project to throw more good money after bad.
Well, he might be suggesting an alternative project, not another one. But leaving that aside, do we know that 800million is going to cause more traffic jams. If the BCRs are correct, some of these are actually good investments. Or is, that the modeling of BCRs is optimistic or modeling the wrong things? I’m not trying to be facetious here; I don’t know the details models used.
But just to use our own common sense analytical skills, can we name one road that has been widened where that widening has addressed congestion issues long term? I dont mean for a year or two but actually “solved” the congestion.
I dont tghink so. Houston has a 26 lane highway which still gets congested beacsue everybody drives. You can never build enough roads. It is just a sticky plaster solution.
As Patrick R always say, the Congestion Free Network wont “solve” congestion either, but it will allow people to choose not to travel (or sit still) in that congestion.