'The most successful collaboration'

IN TOWN: Tommy Parker (second from right), the group manager of highways and network operations at the NZTA, stopped in at the port's upper log-yard during his visit to Gisborne on Wednesday. He met with Jackson Tilley (site engineer), Dean Walker (Downer Gisborne manager), Andrew Gaddum (Eastland Port logistics manager) and Dave Hadfield (Gisborne District Council land transport manager) to talk about road management in Gisborne and the upgrade of the port intersection at Wainui Road. Picture by Paul Rickard

TAIRAWHITI Roads can be a model for other roading network collaborations around the country, says a senior manager at New Zealand Transport Agency.

Tommy Parker, the group manager of highways and network operations, visited Gisborne to see how Tairawhiti Roads — a joint venture between NZTA and Gisborne District Council — was progressing.

He also met with managers of the two companies that will be doing the new network outcomes contracts (NOCs) here — Australia-based Services South East (SSE) and Downer — before they come into effect on October 1.

Mr Parker said the quality and efficiency of road services in Gisborne would improve with Tairawhiti Roads overseeing the NOCs.

“We have been looking to align ourselves with local authorities to improve customer experience and be a more efficient deliverer of road services. The work in Gisborne has been the most successful of these collaborations.”

Savings reinvestedThe merger was saving NZTA money on state highways in the region but there was no guarantee it would be banked here.

“Savings we make will be reinvested into Gisborne’s asset management plan but it will be prioritised on a national basis, meaning it could go elsewhere.”

The district’s road network can, however, be improved without spending significant amounts of money, he says.

“What we need to do is incentivise and provide the framework that allows us to work smarter and more efficiently. No one is telling me the way we maintain the roads is optimal. There is still room for us to give Gisborne and the East Coast a better service than they currently get without spending massive amounts of money.”

Better roads, fewer roadworks delaysPeople can expect better quality roads and fewer delays from roadworks as a result of this focus, he says. Tairawhiti Roads will work closely with the contractors to ensure this happens.

“The more open and collaborative approach means Tairawhiti Roads gets more interaction on a day-to-day basis,” says Mr Parker. “In the past you paid the contractor and left them to get on to it. We are looking at a maintenance regime and how they can optimise assets.”

The first project under the Western NOC is the upgrade of the port intersection on Wainui Road near the Mobil petrol station.

“Better access to the port will enable greater economic efficiency,” Mr Parker said. “That is in line with what we are hoping to achieve with Gisborne’s road network.”

NZTA is talking to local government in other parts of the country about forming partnerships like Tairawhiti Roads.

“We would like to have more collaborations but it is unlikely the set-up will be exactly like Tairawhiti Roads. The network here lends itself to a collaborative approach because you cannot go on a local road without going on a state highway.

“To form the partnership was common sense but there are different models elsewhere.”