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Regional summary

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Overview of the Nelson regional transport system

Table 1: Key statistics on the Nelson region (June 2007 - July 2008)

	Nelson region	New Zealand	Region as % of NZ
Population	44,700	4,268,500	1
Land area (km2)	400	275,400	0
Imports (gross tonne)1, 2	1.8 million	79.2 million	2
Exports (gross tonne)1, 2	2.1 million	73.4 million	3
Gross domestic product (GDP) ($)	1600 million	155,400 million	1
Passenger transport - bus - boardings3	45,500	92,777,200	0
Vehicle kilometres travelled	500 million	40,200 million	1
Fatalities4	1	366	0
Serious injuries4	24	2553	1
Local roads - urban all (km)	215	17,298	1
Local roads - urban sealed (km)	214	16,956	1
Local roads - rural all (km)	42	65,601	0
Local roads - rural sealed (km)	28	33,698	0
State highways - all (km)	645	10,906	6
State highways - sealed (km)	645	10,850	6
State highways - motorway (km)	-	172	-

Notes:

1. Indicative only - based on a ratio determined from a 2002 report on international and inter-regional freight movements.
2. Includes both international and inter-regional freight movements.
3. Bus boardings shared with Tasman.
4. Safety data is for the year ending 2008.

NZTA investment priorities

Given the GPS's requirement that the NZTA focus on activities that make the greatest contribution to New Zealand's economic growth and productivity, this NLTP prioritises activities that make the most significant contribution to one or more of:

• roads of national significance (RoNS) and local roads critical to RoNS
• key freight and tourism routes
• key urban arterials
• public transport initiatives to ease severe congestion
• 'model' urban walking and cycling communities¹
• making better use of the existing transport infrastructure
• optimising the existing capacity of, and service levels on, highly trafficked roads.

In all its investments, the NZTA maintains its longstanding focus on activities that make a significant contribution to one or more of:

• improving safety
• relieving severe urban congestion
• improving journey reliability and/or capacity on key routes
• network security and resilience on key routes
• completing key walking and cycling links to reduce congestion
• providing transport choice in large urban areas
• better public transport network and interchange capacity in large urban areas
• managing adverse environmental impacts from land transport
• public health outcomes
• long-term, integrated and coordinated planning.

It's important to note that safety, particularly reducing the number of deaths and serious injuries as a result of road crashes, has always been and remains a core NZTA priority.

For more information on NZTA investment priorities and assessment criteria refer to the national NLTP document.

¹ Model communities aim to reduce congestion by providing user-friendly environments for walking and cycling.

Expected expenditure in Nelson

Table 2: Expected expenditure in Nelson

Nelson	2009/12	% of total
Walking and cycling	1.4	4.7%
Transport planning	0.5	1.7%
Public transport improvements	0.9	3.2%
New & improved infrastructure for state highways	7.1	24.6%
New & improved infrastructure for local roads	0.6	1.9%
Public transport services	1.1	3.8%
Maintenance of state highways	6.6	22.7%
Renewal of state highways	4.9	16.9%
Maintenance of local roads	3.2	11.0%
Renewal of local roads	2.2	7.6%
Demand management & community programmes	0.5	1.9%
	29.0	100%

Note: includes R funds of $7m

State highway and local road operations, maintenance and renewal

The demands of Nelson's primary and tourism sectors, together with localised population growth and safety concerns, place a heavy reliance on the region's state highway and local roading network. Maintenance, operations and renewal activities are therefore critical to ensure the network remains safe, resilient and secure. The NZTA has approved a three-year allocation and expects organisations to manage the required maintenance, operations and renewal programmes including any changes in costs within that allocation.

Approximately $11.5 million of Nelson's forecast expenditure in 2009-2012 will go into the maintainence and renewal of the region's state highway network, with a further $5.4 million allocated to maintenance and renewal activities on the local roading network. Key activities will include:

• using higher-load-resistant pavements, such as asphaltic concrete, on SH6 Rai Saddle and Whangamoa Hill. This will reduce the need for ongoing maintenance and disruption at these sites
• providing timely road user information through variable and mobile messaging signs, media and NZTA road user information websites
• continuing minor improvement works and safety retrofits to improve safety and reduce the severity of crashes across the network
• continued monitoring and remedial works at unstable sites to ensure route security, such as on SH6 Rocks Road.

State highway and local road improvements

Nelson's state highway and local roading networks play a vital role in connecting the region's primary production areas and tourist destinations to key internal and external markets.

Approximately $7.1 million will be allocated to state highway improvements in the next three years, with a further $600,000 allocated to local road improvements.

Key state highway improvements scheduled during 2009-2012 include:

• important sections of the SH6 Whangamoa south realignment to improve the route alignment and safety
• safety improvements at the SH6 Cable Bay Road intersection
• second curve improvements on SH6 Rai Saddle
• replacing the Teal River Bridge
• renewing several retaining walls on local roads that are nearing the ending of their design lives.

Road Policing Programme

NLTP funding for New Zealand Police road policing activities in Nelson is combined with that for Tasman and totals approximately $5 million for 2009/10. This includes:

• approximately $4 million for strategic policing of the 'fatal five' road safety issues: speeding, drink driving, restraints, dangerous or careless driving and high-risk drivers
• approximately $680,000 for incident and emergency management, which includes crash attendance and investigation, and traffic management
• $27,000 for road policing resolutions, which include sanctions, prosecutions and court orders
• $213,000 for community engagement in road policing.

The detailed 2009/10 Road Policing Programme can be viewed on the New Zealand Police website at www.police.govt.nz/service/road/(external link), and the programmes for 2010/11 and 2011/12 will be published annually on the site once approved by the Minister of Transport.

Other activity classes

The NLTP allocates funding to a range of other activity classes, including:

• public transport services: funding has been allocated at current levels for the next three years
• demand management and community programmes
• transport planning activities, including the Nelson Arterial Traffic Study, which aims to assess the effects of arterial traffic flows between the central business district, port and the Annesbrook roundabout.

Last updated: 6 October 2009