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National Land Transport Programme (NLTP): Northland 2009–2012

The Northland NLTP seeks to improve connectivity within the Northland region and between Northland and the rest of the country to help stimulate economic growth and productivity. It reflects our commitment to delivering value for money in all activities and across all regions – and to ensuring we get the best return on our investments.

Regional summary

Overview of the transport system

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

  Northland region New Zealand Region as %
of NZ
Population 184,500 4,268,500 4
Land area (km2) 13,900 275,400 5
Imports (gross tonne)1, 2 7.7 million 79.2 million 10
Exports (gross tonne)1, 2 2.4 million 73.4 million 3
Gross domestic product (GDP) ($) 4200 million 155,400 million 3
Passenger transport - bus - boardings 248,000 92,777,200 less than 1%
Passenger transport - rail - boardings - 18,346,600 -
Passenger transport - ferry - boardings - 4,695,000 -
Vehicle kilometres travelled 1700 million 40,200 million 4
Fatalities3 29 366 8
Serious injuries3 137 2553 5
Local roads - urban all (km) 569 17,298 3
Local roads - urban sealed (km) 538 16,956 3
Local roads - rural all (km) 5265 65,601 8
Local roads - rural sealed (km) 1753 33,698 5
State highways - all (km) 749 10,906 7
State highways - sealed (km) 732 10,850 7
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.

Roads of national significance

The GPS specifically identifies seven roads of national significance (RoNS) whose further development 'will have national benefits to the roading network and to national economic development' and that 'require significant development to reduce congestion, improve safety and support economic growth'.

While there are no roads of national significance in Northland, the Puhoi to Wellsford upgrade of SH1 will significantly improve connectivity and journey times for local, industry, freight and tourism traffic.

Expected expenditure in Northland

Table 2: Expected expenditure in Northland

Northland 2009/12 % of total
Walking and cycling - 0.0%
Transport planning 4.0 1.3%
Public transport improvements - 0.0%
New & improved infrastructure for state highways 85.8 27.1%
New & improved infrastructure for local roads 34.5 10.9%
Public transport services 2.5 0.8%
Maintenance of state highways 44.3 14.0%
Renewal of state highways 55.1 17.4%
Maintenance of local roads 39.4 12.4%
Renewal of local roads 49.5 15.6%
Demand management & community programmes 2.2 0.7%
  317.3 100%

table-2-1

Note: includes R funds of $36m

New and improved infrastructure for state highways and local roads

Local road improvements mostly comprise groups of activities, such as bridge replacements, as well as significant individual activities to address safety and efficiency. The programme also includes numerous state highway 'block' projects (whose individual costs are less than $4.5 million).

State highway and local road improvements that may be funded in the next three years include:

  • bridge replacements as part of a national programme to identify bridge upgrades
  • extending the seal on SH1 from Waitiki Landing to Cape Reinga
  • widening the seal on SH12 Mountain Road to reduce the number of loss-of-control crashes
  • safety improvements at various locations
  • road reconstruction, including relocating the Saleyard Road North intersection, improving the Puketona SH11 intersection to reduce accidents, and realigning 1.36 kilometres of SH11 at Taumarere to improve safety
  • improving the condition of high-priority logging routes
  • asset management plan reviews
  • constructing the new Dargaville Link Road between Awakino Road and Hokianga Road to improve route and network efficiency
  • extending Spedding Road to improve access between areas northeast of Whangarei and stage 2 of Kamo bypass
  • an extension to Porowini Avenue to ease congestion and improve access between the Whangarei CBD and the Okara Park retail area and the port, including a new bridge over the north Auckland rail line
  • building a new bridge across the Hatea River to link the Port and Kioreora Road intersection with Riverside Drive. The Lower Hatea River crossing project will reduce congestion and encourage the use of public transport and walking and cycling
  • upgrading the key arterial intersections of Mill Road and Nixon Street and Nixon Street and Kensington Avenue to reduce congestion, improve capacity and increase safety
  • capacity improvements along One Tree Point Road
  • installing traffic signals at selected intersections in Whangarei to improve safety.

Maintenance, operation and renewals of state highways

The main focus of this programme is on making the most efficient and effective use of Northland's existing state highway infrastructure to ensure safety, route security and resilience.

Maintenance activities make up a large proportion of the forecast expenditure in Northland, with operations, maintenance and renewal accounting for approximately 59 percent of the total spend. In addition to taking care of the state highway network and completing improvements to meet community needs, the NLTP will continue to:

  • monitor and manage slip sites and organise emergency reinstatements
  • carry out maintenance, including litter and graffiti removal, vegetation control, road marking, signs, traffic signal and lighting maintenance, and incident responses
  • improve safety, drainage, intersections, seal widening and guardrails.

The region's maintenance contract is currently being renegotiated, with the new contract focused on customers' needs and ensuring quality roads where they are most required.

Maintenance, operation and renewal of local roads

As with state highways, local road projects in the Northland region aim to make the most efficient and effective use of the existing infrastructure to improve safety, route security and resilience along the network. Maintenance work is essential to ensure the safe and efficient movement of freight, tourism and local traffic and prevent deterioration of the asset. The NZTA has approved a threeyear allocation and expects organisations to manage the required maintenance, operations and renewal programmes including any changes in costs within that allocation.

Our objectives are to address deficiencies, improve service standards, revise maintenance patterns and manage flooding issues. The Far North and Whangarei district councils are also planning to address some of their resealing backlogs and carry out improvement work associated with poor drainage and safety.

The Northland region, particularly areas covered by the Far North and Kaipara district councils, has a high proportion of low-volume unsealed roads that still require extensive maintenance at considerable cost. While the importance of extending the sealed network is recognised, this NLTP follows the lead of the GPS in placing greatest emphasis on activities that promote economic development.

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 percent 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 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.

The Northland NLTP demonstrates the need to make the most efficient and effective use of existing public transport services and infrastructure.

Services are expected to be maintained at levels achieved via a new five-year contract for passenger transport services, established in 2007/08. This has resulted in more buses operating in the region and expanded routes.

Meanwhile, SuperGold card use is increasing, with projections for the current year having been exceeded. As a result, funding has been reviewed accordingly for the three-year NLTP.

Walking and cycling

Walking and cycling facilities are being implemented in tightly focused areas, such as the on-road facilities in Whangarei, with the aim of reducing congestion and providing the community with alternative transport choices.

Many local and state highway projects include walking and cycling elements, such as the SH1 Kamo bypass stage 2 and Porowini Avenue in Whangarei.

Road policing activities

National Land Transport Fund funding for New Zealand Police road policing activities in the Northland region in 2009/10 totals $12.611 million. This includes:

  • $10.587 million for strategic policing of the 'fatal five' road safety issues: speeding, drink or drugged driving, restraints, dangerous or careless driving and high-risk drivers
  • $1.492 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(external link), and programmes for 2010/11 and 2011/12 will be published annually on the site.

Regionally significant projects from 2012/13 onwards

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Beyond 2012/13, Northland will continue to pursue strategies and groups of activities that provide value for money, contribute to economic growth and productivity, contribute to safety improvements, and provide more transport choices, particularly for those with limited access to cars.

Major activities in the region planned for the seven years beyond 2012/13 (or where construction will continue into this period) are likely to include:

  • a planned upgrade to Marsden Point Road and a number of other roads in the area (approximately $10 million). These upgrades are required to ease congestion and assist freight movements to and from the port
  • planned upgrades to Riverside Road and Onerahi Road to improve capacity and reduce congestion (approximately $6 million)
  • the continued development of a programme of improvements along SH1 through Whangarei to ease traffic movements through the city's central connection.

Last updated: 6 October 2009