roading infrastructure

How many times over the past couple of years have we said that our local MPs are next to invisible and not doing enough to push our case up in Wellington?  

You don’t need to come up with a specific number. But, trust me, it’s somewhere between truckloads and truckloads.  

And what about local councillors? How many times have we said that they’re doing nothing either to remind Wellington that we exist?  

Same answer. Somewhere between truckloads and truckloads.   

And today, we have evidence to prove that what we suspected, or thought we knew, is actually true. And it comes via a briefing paper written for the new Transport Minister Simeon Brown.  

It’s one of a whole raft of briefing papers that were provided to the new coalition government, and we’ve been hearing about them in the news because, yesterday, they were released to the public.  

And there are two key statistics in the paper that was written for the Transport Minister, that have a transport planner saying today that here in our neck of the woods we have been short-changed when it comes to spending on our roads.  

Twenty-five percent of the population lives in the South Island. That’s the first statistic. Now guess how much of the Government’s spend on roading comes to the South Island? Nine percent.  

So, a quarter of New Zealand’s population lives in the South, but less than a 10th of the funding for roads comes here.  

If you look at Canterbury, in particular, on the basis of roading projects underway at the moment and the amount of government money being spent on them - and you compare it to the amount spent in Wellington, then I think we have every reason to feel hard done by.  

Here in Canterbury there are 23 projects underway worth a total of $1.4 billion. In Wellington, there are 44 projects underway worth $3.5 billion.  

Which has Transport planner Axel Downard-Wilke in the news today saying the South Island has always been underfunded by successive governments, and he says the blame lies fairly and squarely with our South Island MPs and local councillors.  

Here’s a taste of what he’s saying today: “South Island MPs have never really effectively campaigned for the South Island getting its fair share and neither is that something that the local councillors in Christchurch have ever been doing in any effective form or shape.”  

And I couldn’t agree with him more.  

He’s also saying today: “It’s just unsatisfactory and when you look at funding for Wellington and Christchurch it’s even more stark.”  

I think he’s generous, saying it’s “unsatisfactory”. I’d say something more along the lines of “it’s hopeless”. Or even stronger.    

But, you know, it’s a classic case of ‘if you don’t ask, you don’t get’. And that’s what this transport planner is saying - our South Island MPs and our local councillors haven’t asked, and so they haven’t got.  

Maybe our case isn’t helped by the muppets at the Christchurch City Council who love to blow government money on roading projects like that monstrosity they’ve created in Gloucester Street, in town.  

You’ll know this one. Blowing more than a million bucks on the planter box trial. Have you actually been there recently? I drove down it the other day and it just looks like some kids have gone there and dragged some planter boxes into the middle of the road for a laugh. Just to be a pain in the backside.  

So maybe the government looks at Canterbury and thinks, either we don’t need any new or upgraded roads because the people who are supposed to have their fingers on the pulse - our MPs and local councillors - aren’t banging the table, demanding more funding.  

Or maybe they look at the Christchurch council, especially, and the Gloucester Street experiment and think we only know how to pour money down the drain.  

Either way, the share of roading investment we are getting - in relation to the number of people who live here in the South Island - is pitiful. More to the point, though, so is the effort that our central and local government politicians are making to get more funding for roads here. 

And it’s only going to get worse, unless these politicians do what they should be doing, and start lobbying hard for more funding here in the South.   

Auckland has Wayne Brown and, in the past month or so, he’s been going all-out to make sure his city gets its fair share of roading funding.  

Example. Here’s something he said late last year: “The Government has underfunded road renewals in Auckland for years. They must fully fund their share of the spend and I will be lobbying the minister and Waka Kotahi to make sure this happens.”  

Hear that? Wayne Brown is going to be lobbying hard. Doing exactly what he should be doing. 

Meanwhile, in Christchurch, our mayor is campaigning to get the Commonwealth Games here. It makes you despair, doesn't it? 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Timely indeed for National to release its transport policy, given that infrastructure groups are tearing their hair out, growing increasingly frustrated by the months-long delay in the Government publishing its direction for land transport.

We have been hearing about this for some time, the Government said yes, yes, yes, yes, it's coming. 

They're putting the delay down to the fact that they have a new Transport Minister in David Parker, and he has to come up to speed with the portfolio after a former transport minister, Michael Wood, was sacked from his role as a minister. So they've said the plan should be released in August, three months after it's due, and five months after the previous draft statement in 2021 was released. 

So we've known about this for a wee while, but Newsroom has spoken to the groups involved and they say the delay puts real pressure on the transport sector without knowing what they're supposed to be doing, what jobs are in the pipeline, they can't invest in the specialist equipment and personnel to carry out the jobs.  

Effective, efficient roads are the arteries of this country.

You simply cannot clog them.

You cannot neglect them.

You cannot let them wither and die or the economy itself will die. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

David Seymour joined Roman Travers on the show to discuss why road tolls are the answer to fixing New Zealand roads, and Danika Mclean wrapped up NZ Firsts AGM.

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On first blush, National’s new pothole policy could be seen as a good thing.

Essentially, what it wants to do if it forms the next government, is set-up a special Pothole Repair Fund and cut the pothole response rate from 48 hours to 24 hours. Which I never knew existed - but it does, apparently.

It would be a $500 million fund and National says it would pay for it by stopping the speed limit changes, cutting back on speed bump installations, and dumping the Road to Zero campaign.

So you look at that and you think ‘oh yeah, good practical stuff’.

Because, I think we can all agree that, while the Road to Zero thing is well-intentioned, it has just become something else for people to ignore. Because, overall, the road toll hasn’t gone down, has it? Not that the ads have helped much.

Although, I did see that one person tragically died on the roads over the long weekend - but that was down from five last Matariki weekend.

As for all the speed limit changes - it can be hard to know what speed you should be going in different areas, can’t it?

The other thing National would cut back-on to help pay for the pothole repairs, is what’s being spent on speed bumps.

So less speed bumps, less speed limit changes and no more Road to Zero in exchange for faster pothole repairs.

The reason I say it could be seen as a good thing, is because I think it’s just another one of those band aids that politicians are very good at.

For example, there is no talk from National about what products are actually going to be used to fix all these potholes. Or how they’re going to be repaired.

Because it’s all very well fixing them. But if we’re just going to continue fixing them the way we are at the moment, then why bother?

How many times have you seen a pothole repaired and then needing re-repairing within a short amount of time?

Generally, the reason why that happens is that all these potholes are fixed using cold asphalt - or coldmix, as it’s known in the roading business. The problem with coldmix is that it’s not very good at bonding with the road and tends to fail again when water gets into the road surface.

If you really want to do a proper job - something that lasts longer than the quick and dirty “coldmix” repair - then you have to remove the whole road surface and replace it with hot asphalt. Which makes sense when you think about it.

But, from what I’ve seen and heard, National doesn’t seem to have thought much about that.

It’s all very well for it to say it’s going to fix potholes faster and fix more of them. But if it's just going to keep doing the repairs in the same haphazard way they’re done at the moment, then it’s ‘thanks but no thanks’ from me.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What a weekend of sport. 

It's been exhausting — and that's just watching it. The All Blacks, the Warriors, a new Wimbledon champion who looks to be beginning a new era in men's tennis, and we have the FIFA Women's world cup kicking off this Thursday. 

So, a lovely weekend of escapist exhilaration — and now it's back to reality. Back to an election campaign, and a busy weekend for our politicians. ACT released its list, Chris Hipkins announced Labour's campaign slogan ‘In it for you,’ and Christopher Luxon announced that National would be fixing potholes. 

Not terribly sexy as far as policy goes but that's exactly what I want to any new Government to be: a bit boring, nothing too sexy, and fixing stuff up. 

I drove to the Hokianga for the weekend, and there'd be half a billion dollars worth of potholes just on State Highway 12. He says he'll divert the money required to fix the potholes from reprioritising spending within the National Land Transport Programme, including a reduction in expenditure on blanket speed limit reductions, and excessive speed bump installations. And, the failed Road to Zero advertising campaign, which has cost us a pretty penny and has not delivered in terms of reducing road deaths. I had no idea speed bumps were so expensive to install, but speaking to the MHB this morning, National Party leader Chris Luxon pointed out a few speed bumps would definitely fill in a few potholes.

I find it interesting that Transport Minister David Parker is saying that National is proposing to fix a problem they themselves created. He says that National chose to freeze road maintenance funding during its time in office in order to fund high profile new highways. 

Oh, come on. 

For one thing, you just can't blame the government that came before you when you've had two terms. You've had six years to do something about the roads, but what have you done? Lowering speed limits, the light rail project, plans for a boomers bike bridge to Birkenhead that never came about, the Road to Zero campaign — lot of money there for a lot of potholes. 

You had the opportunity to do something about road maintenance Mr Parker, you just chose to spend that money on pet projects that have ultimately failed in every single respect.  

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The National Party announced their $500 million Pothole Repair Fund, aiming to introduce new regulations and repair the major problems with the roads and State Highways around New Zealand. National’s Transport Spokesperson Simeon Brown joined the show to give a rundown on how the policy would actually play out.

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The country's infrastructure industry is describing National's $500-million road transport policy as a good start.

The party has declared it will redirect funding from road safety initiatives to pothole repairs and road renewals, if it wins the election.

Infrastructure New Zealand Chief Executive Nick Leggett told Kate Hawkesby that the man power exists to make this promise a reality, but there has to be a guaranteed pipeline of work.

He says if the work is there, the resources will follow.

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I’ve decided we need to build more roads.

I don’t know why we don’t just build roads everywhere all the time. The most transformational thing this government –who said they’d be transformational– could have done was build more roads. I don’t know why they hate them so much and cancelled so many of them.

The irony of this government having to officially open the Puhoi road the other day, that they originally opposed, was not lost on anyone. It’s a fabulous piece of road, makes the journey smoother, faster, more scenic, it’s actually such a thrill, we were so excited to finally get to drive it now that it’s finally open. But it really is transformational. Trucks were flowing without clogging up a small winding one lane hilly road, cars weren’t held up by them with dangerous bends and passing lanes. Traffic was flowing, and markedly reduced. It was genuinely an amazing experience.

I know I sound super excited about just a bit of tarseal, but honestly, roads are fantastic. They get us from A to B safely. They get goods and services to people, they provide access to and from communities and cities. They reduce traffic and wait times. They make our lives easier. Why have we demonized roads so much? It felt so much safer being on that highway, it made the whole experience so much more enjoyable.

I know there was similar excitement for those on Transmission Gully and the Waikato expressway. Locals in both those areas still rave about the difference those roads make to their lives. There’s genuine excitement around infrastructure that improves our quality of life, saves us time, makes commuting easier. It’s delusional to think we just don’t build any more new roads. How can we not? Why would we think just adding bus and cycle lanes is it? Surely that can’t just be the be all and end all. We are not hopping out of our cars anytime soon, despite all the carrots and incentives and free public transport enticing us to do so – we still love our cars. We need our cars, there are a million reasons many of us can’t or won’t take public transport, and so we need the roads.

Not helping the cause of buses at the moment is a video floating round the internet of an Auckland bus driver getting severely verbally abused and sworn at by someone threatening the driver for several minutes until the bus is stopped. Even then the abuser doesn't hop off before yelling more obscenities. It’s uncomfortable viewing and makes you think twice as to how safe you’d really feel on a bus with an experience like that. Who wants their kids on a bus like that?

We do of course want safer roads once we have kids of driving age. Smooth roads with no pot holes, wide roads with plenty of space. Why do we put up with such substandard infrastructure in this country, and such crappy roads? I’d almost forgotten what it was like to drive on a big wide clean straight road. Yes they cost a lot of money, but so does lost productivity due to gridlock, and accidents due to poor road conditions.

I think we don’t realise how bad our roads are until we drive on a new one and see how slick they can be. We put up with long winding clogged single lane traffic because we forget how it once was. Roads don’t have to be a thing of the past, they don’t have to be the big evil they’ve been made out to be. Drive a nice new stretch of highway sometime soon like we did at the weekend, and come back to me on how good that feels.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Associate Transport Minister's chalking the Puhoi to Warkworth motorway up as a "job well done".

The much-anticipated 18.5 kilometre stretch of road was officially opened by the Prime Minister this morning, and will open to motorists in the coming days.

Kiri Allan told Heather du-Plessis Allan that it was wrong that Labour MPs once called it a "holiday highway", as it's a critical piece of infrastructure.

She says post-Cyclone Gabriel we've seen a few networks in need of upgrading, and this is just one part of that.

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.