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Government to invest $16.9 billion on land transport

RNZ, Wellington, August 31, 2018
Transport Minister Phil Twyford has announced a $16.9 billion investment in land transport over the next three years.
The 2018-21 National Land Transport Programme (NLTP), published today by the NZ Transport Agency, marked a investment increase of 18% over the previous programme and a 44% increase from 2012/15.
“This record investment in our transport system will help grow our regions, make it easier to get around our cities, and save lives on our roads,” Mr Twyford said.
“It will deliver the best results for our transport dollar.”
Safety on priority
Mr Twyford said safety was a priority in the NLTP and most roading investment will go to the regions, rather than big cities.
“$4.3 billion of investment will go into programmes and projects that will save lives by preventing accidents or reducing their severity.
“This will include revamping intersections to stop collisions, installing median barriers in high-risk areas, and increasing road policing.”
Reversing the trend
The roads set to receive safety upgrades include Dome Valley, Drury to Paerata, Waihi to Tauranga, and the Hawke’s Bay Expressway.

Transmission Gully construction Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King
“This reverses the situation in the last three years, when most of roading investment went to the metro centres,” he said.
“In total, our neglected regional roads will receive $5.8 billion of funding, a $600 million increase. This compares to $5 billion for roading in metro areas. A further $300 million will be invested in the regions in non-roading projects. This will create new economic opportunities and make travelling safer,” Mr Twyford said.
He said that there would also be significant investment to improve freight connections to ports, airports and distribution centres.
Other investments
Close to $4 billion would be invested in public transport, rapid transit and rail in the cities.
A further $390 million was earmarked for walking and cycling investment.
“This will fund projects like the AMETI busway, renewal work on Wellington’s rail tracks, the Skypath and Seapath walk/cycleways, and investigation of a new commuter ferry service in Queenstown,” Mr Twyford said.
He said that the government would also invest $3.5 billion in new state highway projects such as Puhoi to Warkworth, Transmission Gully, the Mt Messenger bypass, the Manawatu Gorge replacement, the Waikato Expressway, and the Christchurch Southern Motorway.
He said a further $2.2 billion will be invested in state highway maintenance.
By Special Arrangement with www.rnz.co.nz

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