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Regional Summary

Regional summary

Overview of the transport system

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

  Canterbury region New Zealand Region as %
of NZ
Population 566,100 4,268,500 13
Land area (km2) 45,300 275,400 16
Imports (gross tonne)1, 2 8.2 million 79.2 million 10
Exports (gross tonne)1, 2 7.2 million 73.4 million 10
Gross domestic product (GDP) ($) 20,900 million 155,400 million 13
Passenger transport - bus - boardings 16,717,100 92,777,200 18
Passenger transport - rail - boardings - 18,346,600 -
Passenger transport - ferry - boardings 120,800 4,695,000 3
Vehicle kilometres travelled 5200 million 40,200 million 13
Fatalities3 36 366 13
Serious injuries3 258 2553 14
Local roads - urban all (km) 2460 17,298 14
Local roads - urban sealed (km) 2397 16,956 14
Local roads - rural all (km) 11,842 65,601 18
Local roads - rural sealed (km) 5612 33,698 17
State highways - all (km) 1327 10,906 12
State highways - sealed (km) 1327 10,850 12
State highways - motorway (km) 19 172 11

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. Safety data is for the year ending 2008.

Roads of national significance

This NLTP includes a new government initiative: a programme for seven of New Zealand's roads of national significance that aims to reduce congestion, enhance safety and support economic growth.

Christchurch's motorway projects are classified as roads of national significance because of their contribution to the Canterbury region's economic wellbeing. With the aim of improving traffic flows into Christchurch from both the north and south, funding from the NLTP will enable:

  • an upgraded western corridor to connect the northern and southern regions of Canterbury with Christchurch International airport
  • work on stage 1 of the Southern Motorway (starting in March 2010), and in the next three years investigations into stage 2, from Halswell Junction Road to SH1 near Templeton
  • work on various stages of other roads of national significance in the next five to ten years. These roads include the Northern Arterial and the four-laning of SH1 from Sawyers Arms Road to Belfast.

Expected expenditure in Canterbury

Table 2: Expected expenditure in Canterbury

Canterbury 2009/12 % of total
Walking and cycling 2.8 0.4%
Transport planning 6.0 0.9%
Public transport improvements 31.2 4.9%
New & improved infrastructure for state highways 260.8 41.0%
New & improved infrastructure for local roads 23.6 3.7%
Public transport services 61.6 9.7%
Maintenance of state highways 65.9 10.4%
Renewal of state highways 58.2 9.2%
Maintenance of local roads 60.1 9.4%
Renewal of local roads 61.6 9.7%
Demand management & community programmes 4.4 0.7%
  636.2 100%

table-2-1

Note: includes R funds of $122m

State highway improvements

The state highway network has a vital role in connecting the rural productivity areas of Canterbury with key export markets via Prime Port Timaru, the Port of Lyttelton and Christchurch International Airport. Maintaining good access to Christchurch from the north and south is critical for the region's and New Zealand's economic growth.

The Christchurch roads of national significance include southern and northern access to Christchurch, and the western corridor around Christchurch that connects north and south with Christchurch International Airport. One of Canterbury's largest state highway improvement projects in the next three years and beyond - the construction of stage 1 of the Christchurch Southern Motorway - will have major financial benefits for the Christchurch economy.

Two other projects will enable more efficient and safer freight and vehicle movements: investigation work on stage 2 of the Southern Motorway from Halswell Junction Road to Waterholes; and the four-laning of SH1 from Sawyers Arms Road to Waterloo Road.

Meanwhile, other activities in the state highway improvement programme will help to maximise access to significant markets and areas of employment and economic growth through improving travel time reliability, easing severe congestion and providing more efficient freight supply chains.

Key efficiency projects for the Canterbury region likely to receive funding include:

  • intersection improvements at SH74 (QEII Drive/Marshlands Road, QEII Drive/Burwood/Travis Road) and SH73 (Pound Road at Yaldhurst)
  • improvements at SH75/Dunbars Road, which will provide for public transport services accessing the state highway
  • further investigations to upgrade SH75 (Halswell Road) incorporating bus priority measures.

Key safety projects likely to receive funding include:

  • the SH1 Winchester and Orari South passing lanes
  • design work to improve safety on the Mingha Bluff to Rough Creek section of SH73 near Arthur's Pass. This work will also reduce travel times on this section of highway.

In the next three years work may also be progressed on replacing the Waitaki Bridge on SH82 near Kurow, which provides a vital link for moving freight and linking the Kurow community with Waimate.

This NLTP allocates $260.8 million for improvements on Canterbury state highways.

State highway operations, maintenance and renewal

About $124.1 million of Canterbury's forecast expenditure in 2009-2012 will go into maintaining the region's state highway network.

This will, among other things:

  • provide for a comprehensive highway resurfacing and rehabilitation programme to maintain skid resistance and preserve pavements
  • fund electronic variable message signs to enhance the timely provision of road condition information to road users - similar to those already established on SH7 (Lewis Pass), SH73 (Arthur's Pass) and on SH1 in Kaikoura
  • fund more road weather stations, which will mean more accurate weather predictions and enable maintenance teams to respond more quickly to conditions such as ice and snow.

In the next three years, a number of state highway bridges will be strengthened so they are less vulnerable to severe earthquakes, and work will continue on upgrading the Lyttelton Tunnel so that it more closely meets appropriate safety standards. All this work will improve the safety and reliability of Canterbury's state highways, and their contribution to the region's economy.

Local road improvements

The $23.6 million NLTP allocates to local road improvements in Canterbury. We anticipate being able to fund:

  • strengthening work on the Ferrymead Bridge in Christchurch and the old Waimakariri Bridge
  • a widening project for the Factory Road Bridge in Temuka to improve safety
  • Christchurch City Wigram /Magdala arterial improvement.

Local road operations, maintenance and renewal

Canterbury's extensive local road network makes an important contribution to the region's prosperity.

Local road maintenance funding of $121.7 million in this NLTP will help to ensure these roads continue to provide their current levels of service - making them safer and more efficient through reconstruction, resealing and minor safety work. 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.

Public transport services and infrastructure

There has been a substantial increase in funding for public transport services nationally across 2009-12 with an increase of 30% to $630 million compared with the previous three years.

Although there has been a significant increase in funding, there is an expectation that every regional authority will manage their public transport programmes efficiently and effectively within the funding allocations provided to ensure that these are delivering value for money. A challenge is to improve the effectiveness of public transport networks by extracting the maximum value from past and current investments. The NZTA is developing a national framework for a farebox policy that will assist regional authorities as part of this process.

The block funding approach to public transport programmes will provide regional authorities with the flexibility to reassign funding to cover variability in the delivery of programme activities, provided the total expenditure stays within the overall allocation.

The NLTP allocates Canterbury $61.6 million in 2009-2012 to provide total mobility and other public transport services.

A key public transport priority for the region in the next three years involves developing a new Christchurch Central City Passenger Transport Interchange. The NZTA will work closely with Christchurch City Council to develop viable funding options for this project within the current NLTP.

In addition, a number of bus priority schemes to ease peak-hour traffic congestion and make public transport a more attractive travel option are planned for Christchurch. These include priority measures on Colombo Street, Papanui Road, the Queenspark route, New Brighton, Riccarton Road, Sumner, the Orbiter route, the Metrostar route and Cranford Street.

Walking and cycling

The NLTP allocates $2.8 million to walking and cycling projects in Canterbury in the next three years. Projects that might be funded include:

  • the East Street and West Street cycleway in Ashburton, which will help to encourage walking and cycling as travel options in the town
  • cycle and pedestrian access on the Ashley and old Waimakariri bridges.

Walking and cycling activities for the state highway may also be investigated, including improvements to the Ashburton River Bridge, Kaikoura walking and cycling improvements, the Christchurch Northern Access cycleway and minor improvements for walking and cycling throughout Canterbury.

Road policing

National Land Transport Fund funding for New Zealand Police road policing activities in the Canterbury region in 2009/10 (excluding Kaikoura, which is funded with Marlborough) totals $26.848 million.

This includes:

  • $20.843 million for strategic policing of the 'fatal five' road safety issues: speeding, drink/ drugged driving, restraints, dangerous/careless driving and high-risk drivers
  • $4.252 million for incident and emergency management, crash attendance and investigation, and traffic management.

The NLTP and 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). The programmes for 2010/11 and 2011/12 will be posted on the site once approved by the Minister of Transport.

Regionally significant projects from 2012/13 onwards

road

Post 2012/13, activities forecast to start in Canterbury include a number to ease traffic congestion and improve route efficiency. Among these are:

  • starting construction on the NZTA's northern arterial from the northern motorway to QEII Drive
  • four-laning QEII Drive from Main North Road to Marshland Road and Christchurch City projects linked to this.

In the Timaru District, work may start on improving access to the Port of Timaru, which should have a positive impact on the region's economy - and work could begin in the Ashburton District on the Charing Cross intersection safety upgrade at Seafield Road, Fairfield Road, Christys Road and Chertsey Road.

Last updated: 6 October 2009