Investing in proactive resilience improvements that will protect the transport network and keep our communities connected, now and in the future.
The Transport Resilience Fund is a $419 million investment package to build climate resilience across the national roading network. It was announced as part of Budget 2023 and is comprised of three Crown-funded components:
The proactive projects on both the state highways and local roads will provide benefits for the local community and together, they will contribute to a national roading network that will be more resilient to the impacts of climate change and other natural hazards.
We are administering the Transport Resilience Fund through the Transport Resilience Crown Programme. This seven-year programme aims to advance proactive resilience improvements on the roading network to minimise the future damage caused to New Zealand roads by future weather events, which are increasing in frequency and severity because of climate change.
This funding recognises the importance of our state highways as lifeline and freight connections between communities. There are two components:
Low-cost, low-risk
$100 million has been allocated to low-cost, low-risk (LCLR) projects. These are small resilience projects where the intervention is not complex and are likely to cost $2 million or less per project. These will be delivered over the next four years and can start immediately.
Examples of LCLR projects include mesh installation to prevent rockfalls, stabilising slips, improving drainage, protecting against erosion and upgrading culverts.
Small-to-medium
$179 million has been allocated to a package of small-to-medium resilience projects that address flooding, land instability and coastal issues.
The types of projects are likely to be at more complex risk sites and are likely to cost more than $2 million per project. A business case is required for any project over $2 million. They will be delivered over the next seven years.
Examples of these types of projects could include green solutions, sea walls and stop banks, reinforced soil slopes, concrete pile walls, improved drainage (culverts, bridges), raising of road levels, improved revetments or armouring, realignments, erosion control systems.
The first tranche of proactive projects on state highways are set to begin this year (2023/24).
Confirmed state highway projects 2023/24 [PDF, 181 KB]
This component is designed to fund the small, ‘quick-win’ proactive climate resilience projects on local roads. The $140 million investment will be allocated at $20 million for each of the next seven years.
To streamline funding processes and reduce pressure for our council partners, we are using the regional land transport plan (RLTP) process for councils to signal potential projects for the Transport Resilience Fund.
We are looking for small-to-medium projects that can significantly reduce disruption for communities. It is unlikely we will prioritise individual projects over $10 million to ensure distributional equity across councils each year.
We are working with specific councils to identify known projects for the first year of the programme. At the same time, we are working with councils via the RLTP process to establish the candidate projects for the remaining years of the seven-year programme.
Further details will be announced in the coming months.
