Chapter F9 Improvement of roads

F9.10 Funding for improvement of roads

Funding assistance for local roads

All qualifying work in activity class 12: improvement of local roads, other than on special purpose roads, receives funding assistance from the NZTA at the territorial authority (TA) construction rate determined for the territorial authority responsible for the work.

Note: Once the TA construction rate is set for an individual project, or phase of a project, it will remain constant until the project or phase is completed.

TA construction rate

The TA construction rate is equal to the TA base rate plus 10 percent, for TA base rates up to and including 80 percent. For TA base rates greater than 80 per cent, the TA construction rate is half-way between the TA base rate and 100 percent, rounded up to a whole percent.

Reference: For detail about TA base rates, see section F7.13.

Funding assistance for special purpose roads

Special purpose roads are those local roads that were accepted as such under section 104 (now repealed) of the Transit New Zealand Act 1989 (renamed the Government Roading Powers Act 1989 from 1 August 2008).

For the purposes of the Land Transport Management Act 2003 (LTMA), the public body having control of the road shall be deemed to be the relevant approved organisation.

Unless approved otherwise by the NZTA Board, qualifying work on special purpose roads receives funding assistance from the NZTA at a funding assistance rate of:

• 75 percent if the work is funded from activity class 12: improvement of local roads
• 100 percent if the work is funded from work category 341: minor improvements
• 100 percent for the Department of Conservation and the Waitangi National Trust Board.

Funding assistance for state highways

State highways are those roads declared as such under:

• section 11 of the National Roads Act 1953, or
• the Transit New Zealand Act 1989 (renamed the Government Roading Powers Act 1989 from 1 August 2008), or
• section 101 of the Land Transport Management Act 2003 (as amended by the Land Transport Management Amendment Act 2008).

Qualifying work in activity class 13: improvement of state highways receives funding assistance from the NZTA at a funding assistance rate of 100 percent.

Funding assistance for local road improvement projects that benefit State highways

Local road improvement projects may, at the NZTA's discretion, be partly funded as a state highway improvement project in activity class 13: improvement of state highways.

The following criteria apply:

• greater state highway benefits can be purchased per dollar when compared with upgrading the state highway
• the NZTA and the local authority have agreed that the project is the best investment option
• the NZTA and the local authority have agreed on attribution of benefits and construction costs
• the project is unlikely to proceed if left to the local authority (ie funded at the normal funding assistance rate).

Normal funding assistance rates shall apply to each party's share of the cost of improvements. Arrangements for maintenance and renewal may differ on a case-by-case basis.

Additional funding assistance for local authority improvement projects

The NZTA will assess applications for additional funding assistance for local authority improvement projects on a project-by-project basis against the following criteria:

• the activity will provide significant national or regional transport benefits relative to local benefits (eg by providing a more direct route for longdistance traffic or significantly improving public transport infrastructure)
• the activity is part of a package designed to improve network integration and/or sustainability
• the RTC supports the use of regionally distributed funds (R funds) to provide additional funding assistance for the activity
• the approved organisation involved can demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the NZTA, that the activity will result in a significant affordability problem for the local authority.