The Waikato region is a key part of New Zealand’s transport network, providing important links between the sea ports of Tauranga and Auckland and the inland rail freight hub Hamilton, while a high proportion of heavy vehicles also travel through the Waikato, south to Taranaki and Wellington.
| Waikato region | New Zealand | Region as % of NZ |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 380,900 | 4,268,500 | 9 |
| Land area (km2) | 25,600 | 275,400 | 9 |
| Imports (gross tonne)1, 2 | 8.2 million | 79.2 million | 10 |
| Exports (gross tonne)1, 2 | 13.3 million | 73.4 million | 1 |
| Gross domestic product (GDP) ($) | 10,900 million | 155,400 million | 7 |
| Passenger transport - bus - boardings | 3,651,000 | 92,777,200 | 4 |
| Passenger transport - rail - boardings | - | 18,346,600 | - |
| Passenger transport - ferry - boardings | - | 4,695,000 | - |
| Vehicle kilometres travelled | 5000 million | 40,200 million | 12 |
| Fatalities | 67 | 391 | 17 |
| Serious injuries | 295 | 2232 | 13 |
| Local roads - urban all (km) | 1786 | 17,298 | 10 |
| Local roads - urban sealed (km) | 1767 | 16,956 | 10 |
| Local roads - rural all (km) | 6832 | 65,601 | 10 |
| Local roads - rural sealed (km) | 4954 | 33,698 | 15 |
| State highways - all (km) | 1728 | 10,906 | 16 |
| State highways - sealed (km) | 1728 | 10,850 | 16 |
| State highways - motorway (km) | - | 172 | - |
Notes:
When comparing statistics for the Waikato with those for the rest of New Zealand for the purposes of this NLTP, it's important to note that:
The Waikato Expressway is one of seven roads of national significance in New Zealand that the government has identified as requiring significant development to reduce severe congestion, improve safety and support economic growth.
The expressway will service existing and future inter-regional traffic. Regions surrounding RoNS will benefit from better routes from their regions to large cities.
The expressway will ultimately provide a continuous four-lane highway between Auckland and Cambridge that will improve safety and the reliability of journey times, and reduce severe congestion on SH1. It comprises of a series of individual projects, of which eight have yet to be completed. Design is currently underway for the Cambridge, Te Rapa, Ngaruawahia and Rangiriri Bypasses, with construction likely to start for the later three sections within the next three years - subject to land acquisition, Resource Management Act consents and funding.
The detailed design of the Longswamp to Rangiriri, Tamahere to Cambridge four-laning, Huntly and Hamilton bypass sections of the expressway are programmed to start in late 2009.
| Waikato | 2009/12 | % of total |
|---|---|---|
| Walking and cycling | 4.4 | 0.5% |
| Transport planning | 7.8 | 0.8% |
| Public transport improvements | 0.6 | 0.1% |
| New & improved infrastructure for state highways | 481.8 | 51.3% |
| New & improved infrastructure for local roads | 73.3 | 7.8% |
| Public transport services | 25.6 | 2.7% |
| Maintenance of state highways | 104.3 | 11.1% |
| Renewal of state highways | 96.1 | 10.2% |
| Maintenance of local roads | 60.8 | 6.5% |
| Renewal of local roads | 78.1 | 8.3% |
| Demand management & community programmes | 5.7 | 0.6% |
| 938.4 | 100% |
Note: includes R funds of $94m, C funds of $30m
Maintenance activities make up a large proportion of the forecast expenditure on state highways in the Waikato region. In addition to preserving the highway network and undertaking maintenance and improvements to meet future levels of service, the NZTA proposes to:
The NLTP's highest-priority state highway improvements comprise the series of projects for the Waikato Expressway.
Construction is also underway for several other state highway projects, including a new two-lane replacement for the single-lane Kopu Bridge just south of Thames. Once completed, the new bridge will improve traffic capacity along SH25 to and from the Coromandel Peninsula, and reduce delays during peak holiday periods.
New bridges are also currently being constructed just north of Thames on SH25 to replace the Tararu Stream and Te Puru Stream Bridges. These projects are part of Coromandel's 'Peninsula Project', a multi-agency initiative to manage the flood risk on the Thames coast. Investigations are also underway to replace the SH26 Kirikiri Stream Bridge and the Atiamuri Bridge on SH1 between Taupo and Tokoroa, and an investigation will begin within the next three years on replacing the SH25 bridge at Waiomu.
Construction is almost complete on a 4km realignment north of Tirau, which will improve safety immediately south of the SH1/SH29 intersection at Piarere by removing a series of 14 tight curves.
Work is almost complete on upgrading the SH1/3 Ohaupo Road/Kahikatea Drive/Lorne Street intersection in Hamilton city, which will improve traffic capacity and pedestrian and cyclist facilities. Investigations are also programmed to start within the next three years to upgrade the SH1/5 intersection at Tirau and the SH1/29 intersection at Piarere.
Construction is underway north of Matamata to improve safety at the intersection of Tahuna Road and SH27 with the construction of a roundabout. Design is also ongoing to improve safety at the intersection of SH26 and SH27 at Tatuanui, just east of Morrinsville, by replacing the existing intersection with a roundabout.
Design is continuing for the Maramarua deviation on SH2. This project comprises a bypass of Maramarua township to improve road safety, provide passing opportunities and reduce holiday peak congestion. An investigation is also underway for the adjacent Kopuku realignment project.
The strategic routes for the Southern Links project south of Hamilton will also be identified and designated within three years. This project will consider the long-term transport requirements of the growing area south of Hamilton, and target congestion on SH1 and SH3 in the Hillcrest and Melville suburbs of Hamilton. In the meantime, several small intersection improvement projects are proposed for Hamilton City to relieve congestion and improve the existing network's efficiency.
Operating and maintaining the local road network is a key priority for the Waikato region and the NLTP. It provides a vital link to markets, essential services and education opportunities for the 10 local authorities in the region.
The maintenance programme for the three-year period is $138.9 million. It includes:
The NZTA expects organisations to manage their operations, maintenance and renewal activities including any changes in costs within their three-year approved allocation.
The NLTP allocates $73.3 million to local road improvement projects across the region.
Significant local road improvement projects likely to be funded as part of the NLTP are:
These projects will be individually assessed prior to funding being approved to verify their contribution to the GPS impacts.
There has been a substantial increase in funding for public transport services nationally across 2009-12 with an increase of 30 percent 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 fare box 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 $25.6 million to the Waikato region for the operation of public transport services, and improving infrastructure. Included in this programme is funding of the various bus networks which operate across the region, provision of the total mobility scheme and the maintenance of existing public transport infrastructure, including ticketing and real time information systems, and bus shelters.
The NLTP also allocates almost $1.5 million to improving public transport infrastructure with possible projects being an upgrade of the Hamilton Transport Centre, and providing bus priority measures on the existing road network in Hamilton.
The NLTP has allocated $4.4 million to walking and cycling projects in Waikato.
A number of walking and cycling projects are programmed for completion during the NLTP's three-year period. These include local authority projects that develop walking and cycling networks, and a number of projects the NZTA has prioritised for completion on the state highway network. The NZTA projects include:
Funding for community programmes amounting $5.7 million is allocated in the NLTP for the Waikato region. Community programmes are delivered by the various road controlling authorises and the regional council. In addition, specific advertising campaigns are delivered in partnership by the NZTA on the state highway network.
The NZTA's primary investment focus for 2009/10 is on programmes that deliver on a relevant road safety strategy and achieve a change in travel behaviour that will reduce severe congestion in major urban areas.
In addition, for the demand management and community programmes activity class the NZTA received significantly more funding applications than in the previous year. This, together with the funding available as specified by the GPS and our targeted investment focus for this year, means a reduction on last year funding level.
The planned NZTA review of the demand management and community programme activity class will ensure that the government is getting good value for the investment it makes in these programmes. This will include undertaking a full realignment to the Road Safety to 2020 Strategy.
Through the review the NZTA will develop clear guidelines for future funding applications on what demand management and community programmes our funding will be targeted at.
The NLTP has allocated $7.8` million to various transport planning projects for the three year period. Transport planning has been prioritised to ensure integration between land use and the transport needs and to also ensure a strategic outlook is provided for the longer period.
Projects likely to be funded, but not limited to, include inter and intra regional freight studies, growth strategies and studies, studies which support the development of the Regional Land Transport Strategy, and activity management plans reviews.
Funding from the National Land Transport Fund for New Zealand Police road policing activities in the Waikato region totals $30.609 million for 2009/10.
This includes:
Road safety action planning is key to the success of road policing projects. As a coordinated arrangement for analysing, planning, delivering, evaluating and reporting on all local road safety activities (including road policing, community projects and engineering), it enables partners to work together to provide focus, commitment and urgency in addressing and mitigating the region's road safety risks.
More information about the Road Policing Programme and the police full-time equivalents allocated by regional area to local authorities or clusters of local authorities can be found on the New Zealand Police website: www.police.govt.nz/service/road(external link).
In addition to the land transport programme for the period 2009/10 to 2011/12, also developed is a 10-year large project/activity forecast. Significant activities identified in the 10-year period are:
These projects/activities will all contribute to the GPS impact areas and the regional priorities for transport investment.
Last updated: 6 October 2009
