| Canterbury region | New Zealand | Region as % of NZ |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 566,100 | 4,268,500 | 13 |
| Land area (km2) | 45,300 | 275,400 | 16 |
| Imports (gross tonne)1, 2 | 8.2 million | 79.2 million | 10 |
| Exports (gross tonne)1, 2 | 7.2 million | 73.4 million | 10 |
| Gross domestic product (GDP) ($) | 20,900 million | 155,400 million | 13 |
| Passenger transport - bus - boardings | 16,717,100 | 92,777,200 | 18 |
| Passenger transport - rail - boardings | - | 18,346,600 | - |
| Passenger transport - ferry - boardings | 120,800 | 4,695,000 | 3 |
| Vehicle kilometres travelled | 5200 million | 40,200 million | 13 |
| Fatalities3 | 36 | 366 | 13 |
| Serious injuries3 | 258 | 2553 | 14 |
| Local roads - urban all (km) | 2460 | 17,298 | 14 |
| Local roads - urban sealed (km) | 2397 | 16,956 | 14 |
| Local roads - rural all (km) | 11,842 | 65,601 | 18 |
| Local roads - rural sealed (km) | 5612 | 33,698 | 17 |
| State highways - all (km) | 1327 | 10,906 | 12 |
| State highways - sealed (km) | 1327 | 10,850 | 12 |
| State highways - motorway (km) | 19 | 172 | 11 |
Notes:
This NLTP includes a new government initiative: a programme for seven of New Zealand's roads of national significance that aims to reduce congestion, enhance safety and support economic growth.
Christchurch's motorway projects are classified as roads of national significance because of their contribution to the Canterbury region's economic wellbeing. With the aim of improving traffic flows into Christchurch from both the north and south, funding from the NLTP will enable:
| Canterbury | 2009/12 | % of total |
|---|---|---|
| Walking and cycling | 2.8 | 0.4% |
| Transport planning | 6.0 | 0.9% |
| Public transport improvements | 31.2 | 4.9% |
| New & improved infrastructure for state highways | 260.8 | 41.0% |
| New & improved infrastructure for local roads | 23.6 | 3.7% |
| Public transport services | 61.6 | 9.7% |
| Maintenance of state highways | 65.9 | 10.4% |
| Renewal of state highways | 58.2 | 9.2% |
| Maintenance of local roads | 60.1 | 9.4% |
| Renewal of local roads | 61.6 | 9.7% |
| Demand management & community programmes | 4.4 | 0.7% |
| 636.2 | 100% |
Note: includes R funds of $122m
The state highway network has a vital role in connecting the rural productivity areas of Canterbury with key export markets via Prime Port Timaru, the Port of Lyttelton and Christchurch International Airport. Maintaining good access to Christchurch from the north and south is critical for the region's and New Zealand's economic growth.
The Christchurch roads of national significance include southern and northern access to Christchurch, and the western corridor around Christchurch that connects north and south with Christchurch International Airport. One of Canterbury's largest state highway improvement projects in the next three years and beyond - the construction of stage 1 of the Christchurch Southern Motorway - will have major financial benefits for the Christchurch economy.
Two other projects will enable more efficient and safer freight and vehicle movements: investigation work on stage 2 of the Southern Motorway from Halswell Junction Road to Waterholes; and the four-laning of SH1 from Sawyers Arms Road to Waterloo Road.
Meanwhile, other activities in the state highway improvement programme will help to maximise access to significant markets and areas of employment and economic growth through improving travel time reliability, easing severe congestion and providing more efficient freight supply chains.
Key efficiency projects for the Canterbury region likely to receive funding include:
Key safety projects likely to receive funding include:
In the next three years work may also be progressed on replacing the Waitaki Bridge on SH82 near Kurow, which provides a vital link for moving freight and linking the Kurow community with Waimate.
This NLTP allocates $260.8 million for improvements on Canterbury state highways.
About $124.1 million of Canterbury's forecast expenditure in 2009-2012 will go into maintaining the region's state highway network.
This will, among other things:
In the next three years, a number of state highway bridges will be strengthened so they are less vulnerable to severe earthquakes, and work will continue on upgrading the Lyttelton Tunnel so that it more closely meets appropriate safety standards. All this work will improve the safety and reliability of Canterbury's state highways, and their contribution to the region's economy.
The $23.6 million NLTP allocates to local road improvements in Canterbury. We anticipate being able to fund:
Canterbury's extensive local road network makes an important contribution to the region's prosperity.
Local road maintenance funding of $121.7 million in this NLTP will help to ensure these roads continue to provide their current levels of service - making them safer and more efficient through reconstruction, resealing and minor safety work. The NZTA has approved a three-year allocation and expects organisations to manage the required maintenance, operations and renewal programmes including any changes in costs within that allocation.
There has been a substantial increase in funding for public transport services nationally across 2009-12 with an increase of 30% 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 farebox 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 NLTP allocates Canterbury $61.6 million in 2009-2012 to provide total mobility and other public transport services.
A key public transport priority for the region in the next three years involves developing a new Christchurch Central City Passenger Transport Interchange. The NZTA will work closely with Christchurch City Council to develop viable funding options for this project within the current NLTP.
In addition, a number of bus priority schemes to ease peak-hour traffic congestion and make public transport a more attractive travel option are planned for Christchurch. These include priority measures on Colombo Street, Papanui Road, the Queenspark route, New Brighton, Riccarton Road, Sumner, the Orbiter route, the Metrostar route and Cranford Street.
The NLTP allocates $2.8 million to walking and cycling projects in Canterbury in the next three years. Projects that might be funded include:
Walking and cycling activities for the state highway may also be investigated, including improvements to the Ashburton River Bridge, Kaikoura walking and cycling improvements, the Christchurch Northern Access cycleway and minor improvements for walking and cycling throughout Canterbury.
National Land Transport Fund funding for New Zealand Police road policing activities in the Canterbury region in 2009/10 (excluding Kaikoura, which is funded with Marlborough) totals $26.848 million.
This includes:
The NLTP and the detailed 2009/10 Road Policing Programme can be viewed on the New Zealand Police website at www.police.govt.nz/service/road(external link). The programmes for 2010/11 and 2011/12 will be posted on the site once approved by the Minister of Transport.
Post 2012/13, activities forecast to start in Canterbury include a number to ease traffic congestion and improve route efficiency. Among these are:
In the Timaru District, work may start on improving access to the Port of Timaru, which should have a positive impact on the region's economy - and work could begin in the Ashburton District on the Charing Cross intersection safety upgrade at Seafield Road, Fairfield Road, Christys Road and Chertsey Road.
Last updated: 6 October 2009
