$22,000,000,000 on just one road?
Last year, I posted about the challenges I faced, trying to daylight public-interest information about the government’s Roads of National Significance programme. As I wrote then, entire documents – including even titles – were being withheld on what looked to me like flimsy grounds.…
130 Comments What’s in the RoNS files?
Earlier this week, Te Waihanga, The Infrastructure Commission, called for more transparency for infrastructure investment.
I thoroughly agree. A lack of transparency, especially in mega projects, has been a hallmark of the transport sector in New Zealand – and not only is it detrimental to the public interest, it also prevents improvements to how we do infrastructure as a country.…
More Thoughts on MOAR RoNS
The absurdly high cost – potentially $50 billion – of the government’s focus on building MOAR RoNS (Roads of National Significance) was highlighted last week, with the release of new costings for six of the 17 projects.
I covered some initial implications in a first post, Reality Bites: RoNS will bankrupt the nation.…
Reality bites: RoNS will bankrupt the nation
The government’s mega-roads programme is now looking to cost an astonishing $40-50 billion, based on new documents released yesterday by the NZTA.
On Monday, Transport Minister Chris Bishop touted the fact that $1.2 billion would be spent towards funding for design, consenting and property acquisition for six of the projects.…
The Government accidentally added us to their group chat
In events eerily similar to what happened in the USA last week, Greater Auckland was recently accidentally added to a group chat between government ministers on the topic of transport.
We have no idea how it happened, but luckily we managed to transcribe most of what transpired.…
Government’s Investment Summit
This week, the Government is hosting a grand event aimed at trying to interest big foreign capital players in financing capital works in New Zealand, particularly its big rural motorway programme. Financing vs funding: a quick explainer
The key word in the sentence above is financing.…
Who benefits from secrecy around public infrastructure?
You might have seen this video, which we received as part of a recent OIA request. It showcases the original light rail plans developed by Auckland Transport between 2014-2017.
The video was apparently produced in early 2018 by Auckland Transport, just a few months before the project was handed off to Waka Kotahi/NZTA.…
RONS Review Part 2
Part 1 of this series summarised the history and progress of the 4 RONS projects in Auckland and the Waikato, while this post will cover Tauranga, Wellington and Christchurch.
5. Tauranga Eastern Corridor
The Tauranga Eastern Link was another of the faster moving RONS projects and is only the second RoNS to be fully completed.…
Kapiti Expressway stage one: Review
This is a guest post by architect and our occassional Wellington correspondent Guy Marriage
The first section of the Kapiti Expressway opened on 24 February, at 4am, with little fanfare. As an immediate response to this implicit request, that induced me to make some more traffic by driving up and down the new road, just to see what it is like.…
RoNS 2.0?
The government’s Roads of National Significance have dominated transport spending over the last eight years and within the next 4-5 years, almost all of the motorways originally proposed will have been completed. Yet despite this, current plans are for transport spending on state highways is set to continue to increase over the coming years – NZTA are currently forecast to spend $1.9 billion on state highways this financial year, based on MoT projections, by 2024-25 this it is likely to be close to $2.9 billion a year.…
Processing...