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Regional Summary

Regional summary

Overview of the transport system

Table 1: Key statistics on the Hawke's Bay region (June 2007-July 2008)

  Hawke's Bay region New Zealand Region as %
of NZ
Population 152,700 4,268,500 4
Land area (km2) 14,200 275,400 5
Imports (gross tonne)1, 2 2.5 million 79.2 million 3
Exports (gross tonne)1, 2 3.5 million 73.4 million 5
Gross domestic product (GDP) ($) 4700 million 155,400 million 3
Passenger transport - bus - boardings 535,500 92,777,200 1
Passenger transport - rail - boardings - 18,346,600 -
Passenger transport - ferry - boardings - 4,695,000 -
Vehicle kilometres travelled 1,500 million 40,200 million 4
Fatalities3 25 366 4
Serious injuries3 109 2553 5
Local roads - urban all (km) 719 17,298 4
Local roads - urban sealed (km) 715 16,956 4
Local roads - rural all (km) 3420 65,601 5
Local roads - rural sealed (km) 1983 33,698 6
State highways - all (km) 506 10,906 5
State highways - sealed (km) 485 10,850 4
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. Safety data is for the year ending 2008.

Expected expenditure in Hawke's Bay

Table 2: Expected expenditure in Hawke's Bay

Hawkes Bay 2009/12 % of total
Walking and cycling 0.3 0.1%
Transport planning 2.6 1.2%
Public transport improvements 0.0 0.0%
New & improved infrastructure for state highways 69.1 32.3%
New & improved infrastructure for local roads 11.4 5.3%
Public transport services 5.6 2.6%
Maintenance of state highways 27.7 12.9%
Renewal of state highways 31.7 14.8%
Maintenance of local roads 31.1 14.5%
Renewal of local roads 33.8 5.8%
Demand management & community programmes 0.9 0.4%
  214.1 100%

table-2-1

Note: includes R funds of $46m

State highway operations, maintenance and renewal

The NZTA's priorities for state highway operations, maintenance and renewal focus on:

  • getting the most out of existing infrastructure on key routes and service levels for safety and road network reliability, availability and resilience
  • timely interventions to meet agreed levels of service for:
    • safety (including public risk, or implementing a relevant road safety strategy)
    • road network reliability (asset preservation)
    • road network availability and resilience
    • optimising the efficiency of existing infrastructure
    • managing adverse environmental effects from land transport
    • where levels of service are linked to the ability of a key network or routes to contribute to economic growth and improved productivity.

About $59.4 million of NLTP funding for Hawke's Bay will go into operating and maintaining the region's state highway network to meet future service levels. It will also enable the NZTA to:

  • carry out state highway resurfacing and reconstruction
  • continue an ongoing safety retrofitting programme, which includes installing audio-tactile markings and removing roadside hazards
  • provide a more forgiving roadside environment to reduce the severity of crashes
  • continue to focus on low-skid-resistance sites to maintain the standard of surface friction performance
  • improve the response to ice- and snow-prone sections on state highways to reduce winter crash rates.

State highway improvements

mountain-road

The NZTA's priorities for state highway improvements are:

  • new and improved: major contributions to national economic growth and productivity in freight or tourism routes; or urban arterials critical for maximising access to significant markets and areas of employment or economic growth
  • significant improvements in one or each of: the risk of fatal and serious injuries; and the implementation of a relevant road safety strategy
  • significant improvements on key routes in one or more of: journey time reliability; severe urban congestion; capacity constraints; and risks from natural hazard or other transport operation disruptions.

The government's recent fiscal stimulus package provided funding to advance the construction of the Matahorua Gorge realignment project, thus eliminating this steep and windy section of SH2 and improving route efficiency, security and safety for motorists and freight carriers.

This NLTP provides allocates $69.1 million for improvements on Hawke's Bay state highways. These are likely to include:

  • constructing the Waitangi Washout Bridge replacement, which will provide route security and reliability
  • designing and investigating the SH5 Tarawera Hill realignment safety project between Napier and Taupo, which will enable more efficient traffic flow.

Other plans reflect Hawke's Bay's variable terrain, with SH2 in the south generally flat from Napier, becoming flat to rolling around Waipukurau, then rising gently up to the Takapau Plains. A number of passing lanes have already been constructed to improve efficiency and safety, and others are planned in the next three years. These include passing opportunities between Gisborne and Napier, and new passing lanes on SH2 south of Hastings.

SH5, from the SH2 junction to Waipunga (six kilometres north of Tarawera), runs through hilly and rolling country with several steep grades. This section of highway, which is a major commercial vehicle and tourist route, is known to have some areas of instability that become evident after prolonged wet weather. The NZTA continues to seek engineering solutions to stabilise these areas and preserve their route security.

In addition, and as part of a national programme to provide a safe and convenient network of stock effluent disposal facilities, a new stock effluent disposal facility is to be investigated on SH2 in the Wairoa District in 2009/10.

Local road operations, maintenance and renewal

The NZTA's priorities for local road operations, maintenance and renewal are as described in 'State highway operations, maintenance and renewal' above.

This NLTP allocates $64.9 million to this activity on Hawke's Bay's local roads, which maintains the existing funding level. This will help to enhance route security and safety, particularly on roads experiencing increasing demand from heavy vehicle traffic, and ensure the roads continue to support economic development.

The NZTA expects organisations to manage their operations, maintenance and renewal activities including any changes in costs within their approved allocation.

Local road improvements

The NZTA's priorities for local road improvements are as described in 'State highway improvements' above.

An important improvement provided for in this NLTP is Napier City Council's Prebensen Drive four-laning, which will improve network efficiency in central Napier. Local road improvements during 2009-2012 will also include minor network improvements and work to enhance the safety of local roads in Wairoa, Napier, Hastings and central Hawke's Bay.

Public transport services

The NZTA's priorities for investment in public transport services focus on urban areas with severe congestion with the aim of significantly improving peak-time public transport patronage and optimising the efficiency of existing 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.

cycling

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 fare box 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.

In this NLTP, funding for existing passenger transport services for Hawke's Bay is to remain at current levels, which will ensure that all existing bus and total mobility services continue.

Hawke's Bay Regional Council is proposing improvements to bus services in and around the Heretaunga Plains to provide better access and mobility to the surrounding community. This NLTP provides the opportunity for funding these improved services where it can be demonstrated these align with the NZTA's priorities for investment .

Walking and cycling

The NZTA's priorities for walking and cycling facilities are:

  • activities that are part of a model walking/cycling community¹ package that will reduce congestion in main urban areas
  • activities that will make significant improvements to: the risk of fatal and serious injuries; the implementation of a relevant road safety strategy; and reducing congestion in main urban areas by completing or complementing key walking and cycling networks.

The $250,000 allocated in this NLTP to walking and cycling projects in Hawke's Bay will fund projects such as the Waipukurau and Waipawa cycle lanes and Stage 6 of the Napier City Council's cycleway project.

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

Demand management and community programmes

NLTP funding of $900,000 will enable the Hawke's Bay Regional Council to deliver transport safety and sustainability activities throughout the region.

The NZTA's primary investment focus for 2009/10 is on programmes that deliver on a relevant road safety strategy and achieve a change in travel behaviour that will reduce severe congestion in major urban areas.

The NZTA Board has requested a review of this activity class to provide evidence of the benefits and value for money that its programmes deliver.

Accordingly, the funding for this activity class is approved for 2009/10 only, with the review expected to establish the funding direction for the subsequent two years. One result of this review is expected to be the development of guidelines and processes to ensure that demand management and community programmes are supported by evidence of benefits and value for money.

Transport planning

Planning for the future of Hawke's Bay's transport network will be undertaken through the Hawke's Bay Regional Land Transport Strategy Review. This will enable the region to plan for the future and explore integrated planning opportunities with various stakeholders.

  • The NLTP also provides opportunities for funding the following studies:
  • Heretaunga Plains Transportation Study Review: a multi-agency project led by Hawke's Bay Regional Council and comprising Napier City Council, Hastings District Council and the NZTA. The review will develop a long-term sustainable transport strategy for moving people and goods within the Heretaunga Plains that is integrated with the Councils' urban development strategy.
  • Hawke's Bay Rural Transport Study: an adjunct study to the Heretaunga Plains Transportation Study Review to look at demographics, patterns and projections relating to primary producers and rural areas of Hawke's Bay.
  • Hawke's Bay Rail and Coastal Shipping Study: this will identify the economics of rail and coastal shipping as alternatives to road transport.
  • Regional Walking and Cycling Study: this will identify the region's walking and cycling requirements and possible solutions from a commuter perspective.
  • Central Hawke's Bay District Council's Traffic Study.
  • Hastings District Council's Walking and Cycling Strategy.

Road policing

The National Land Transport Fund funding for New Zealand Police road policing activities in the Hawke's Bay region in 2009/10 totals $9.351 million.

This includes:

  • $7.518 million for strategic policing of the 'fatal five' road safety issues: speeding, drink/drugged driving, restraints, dangerous/careless driving and high-risk drivers
  • $1.412 million for incident and emergency management, crash attendance and investigation, and traffic management
  • $53,000 for road policing resolutions, which include sanctions, prosecutions and court orders
  • $368,000 for community engagement in road policing, which includes police community services and school road safety education.

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 published annually on the site once they have been approved by the Minister of Transport.

Regionally significant projects from 2012/13 onwards

Regionally significant activities post 2012/13 are likely to be identified as part of the review of the Hawke's Bay Transport Study. Potential projects include the:

  • Whakatu outlet
  • Awatoto to Expressway link.

Last updated: 6 October 2009