$460m spend on roads paves way for growth

Mangakahia Rd, which is expected to see 195 truckloads per day, or one truck every three minutes on average, is in line for a $15 million redesignation to turn it into a state highway.

Northland has been offered a good-sized slice of the nation's road funding pie with $460 million to be spent on the region's highways, byways and buses over the next three years.

It includes $15 million to redesignate Mangakahia Rd as a state highway.

That is 22 per cent more than the previous three years. Geoff Dangerfield, New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) chief executive, said the extra investment recognises the impact of increased logging freight and also looks towards preparing the region for other growth.

Redesignating the 95km-long Mangakahia Rd - which is expected to see 195 truckloads per day, or one truck every three minutes on average - into a state highway will cost about $15 million with NZTA then taking over management of the vital logging truck route.

While Northland's bite is a significant one, nationwide the three year transport programme will swallow $13.92 billion, a 15 per cent increase on the previous three-year funding.

The agency's bosses and planners met with the Northland Regional Transport Committee (NRTC), other local authority representatives and stakeholders recently to discuss the three-year programme.

Of Northland's $460 million allocation, $48 million goes into extending the Auckland to Northland motorway from Puhoi to Warkworth, $6 million into subsidised regional public transport and $5 million into cycling and walking routes in Whangarei.

NRTC chairman and Northland Regional Council member John Bain said the programme went a long way toward meeting the region's current needs and the expected increase in tourism and other traffic due to economic development.

He said the funding represented relief for Northland's historic reliance on major roads being patched up rather than rebuilt.

It was also largely the result of the Northland transport committee putting forward a cohesive and strong case.

Ernst Zollner, NZTA regional director, said Northland would benefit from a stronger focus on network resilience and service consistency.

Road improvements that targeted safety were a major feature of this programme, Mr Zollner said.

The increase in Northland's level of funding reflected the NZTA being given more by the Government and the need for more preventative maintenance.

The 2015-18 programme was allocated after last July's back to back floods, the massive collapse of State Highway One near Towai and millions of dollars of other road failures.

The Government's promised $69 million replacement of 10 of the region's one-lane state highway bridges had been scaled back to the four already under consideration at the time of the "10 Bridges" announcement during the byelection in March.