Latest news with #WakaKotahi
NZ Herald
2 days ago
- NZ Herald
Crash on Auckland's Southern Motorway delays holiday traffic ahead of King's Birthday Weekend
Southbound traffic on the Southwestern Motorway, meanwhile, was badly congested from the junction with the Southern back to the Waterview Tunnel. Am I going to get stuck in traffic if I try to escape the city? To help keep journeys flowing, major roadworks generally pause during holiday weekends but NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi's Journey Planner has identified several choke points where traffic will likely build up at peak times this weekend. Traffic on SH1 southbound between Wellsford and Pūhoi is expected to be at its heaviest between 2pm and 4pm on Monday. Traffic heading out of Auckland is at a near-complete standstill across the motorway network this evening as holidaymakers start their break. Photo / Google From Manukau to Bombay on SH1 there were several periods where traffic was predicted to be heavy and slow-moving, the transport agency warned. Heading south, traffic was expected to be busy from 7.30am through to 8pm on Friday, before peaking between 9am and 11am on Saturday. Northbound traffic will be busy between noon and 6pm on Sunday and from 11am through to 3pm Monday as Aucklanders return home. Acting director of road policing, Inspector Peter McKennie, urged motorists to put safety first this weekend and take their time, drive to the conditions and be patient. 'So many of the crashes we've attended this year have been preventable, and that's a tragedy.' Motorists can expect extra police to be patrolling the roads across the King's Birthday weekend period, with McKennie signalling officers would be on the watch for infringements related to restraints, impairment through the likes of alcohol and drugs, distractions such as cellphones, and speed. 'Those are four areas we're targeting because we know it can save lives. A split-second decision can be the difference between life and death.' Sign up to The Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
3 days ago
- Business
- RNZ News
Public consultation opens for raising Transmission Gully speed limit to 110km/h
Transmission Gully. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver The Transport Minister has announced consultation begins on Friday on raising the speed limit for Transmission Gully to 110km per hour. The $1.25 billion motorway north of Wellington - opened to the public in March 2022 after years of delays. Last year two large motorways north of Wellington the Kāpiti Expressway and the Peka Peka to Ōtaki Expressway had their speed limits increased to 110km per hour. Transmission Gully was built to the same safety levels but did not receive the same treatment at the time due to parts of the road not being complete. Transport Minister Chris Bishop said now New Zealanders would get to have their say on the increased speed limit for the road. "Transmission Gully was designed and constructed to a high safety standard. This is reflected in the low crash numbers on the road since opening in 2022." Bishop said there had been 150 barrier strikes on the route but nobody had died on it. Transport Minister Chris Bishop. Photo: RNZ/Calvin Samuel There would also be consultation on a raised speed limit to 110km per hour on the Raumati Straights which connected Transmission Gully to the Kāpiti Expressway. If it came into force, that would mean the speed limit would be 110km per hour on State Highway One from north of Ōtaki to nearly all the way into Wellington City. Consultation will last six weeks. In February RNZ reported that NZTA Waka Kotahi estimated it spent more than $600,000 on external lawyers for a legal battle with the builders of Transmission Gully, which was later settled out of court. The road was built under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) contract between the Wellington Gateway Partnership and builders CPB Contractors Pty Ltd and HEB Construction Ltd. The dispute related to unfinished construction and quality checks. At the time the agency said the legal proceedings were filed in response to their expectations works were completed to the "project's contracted standards". In December the agency announced it had settled the dispute out of court. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
3 days ago
- Business
- RNZ News
Rates rise trimmed to 5.8% for Canterbury ratepayers
Chairperson Craig Pauling says the annual plan has produced a good outcome for the region. Photo: Supplied / Environment Canterbury Canterbury ratepayers are set to get some relief, with the regional council slashing its proposed average rate rise to 5.8 percent. Environment Canterbury consulted on an average rate rise of 9.9 percent , after signalling a rates hike of 15.5 percent in last year's 2024/34 Long Term Plan. But staff found further savings, following cuts to public transport funding, allowing councillors to endorse a revised rate rise of 5.8 percent during annual plan deliberations on Tuesday, May 28. The council has been under pressure from Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency to increase bus fares, with less funding available for public transport. Chairperson Craig Pauling said the annual plan had produced a good outcome for the region. ''I was pleased with council's detailed and good-spirited debate, and our consistent focus on strategic outcomes for Waitaha. ''We don't always get the things we want, and some of the decisions we had to make were unfortunately the result of changing government policies and investment priorities. ''But I feel we've landed in a good place for the region.'' Environment Canterbury chairperson Craig Pauling. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon Pauling said public transport, river resilience and biodiversity remained priorities for the council, despite the pressures of the economic climate and changing government policy. The council was forced to rethink its investment in public transport due to reduced funding from central government. As signalled in the consultation, bus fares will increase, with the flat fare trial coming to an end in February next year. Standard adult fares will increase from $2 to $3 from July, with increases for child fares, total mobility card holders and community service card holders. A two-zone fare structure in be introduced in February, with Waimakariri and Selwyn bus users paying $3 to travel within their own own district and $4 to travel into Christchurch. A proposed two-year trial to establish a third zone linking Darfield, Kirwee and West Melton with Rolleston was dropped following submissions. Councillor John Sunckell proposed the council go ahead with the trial, funding $150,000 a year from reserves to reduce the targeted rate. But staff noted it was not eligible for NZTA funding and proposed investigating further support for the Malvern Community Vehicle Trust. The council will meet again on June 25 to adopt the annual plan. - LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
RNZ News
6 days ago
- Business
- RNZ News
Councils vent frustration at Otaki-Levin expressway downgrade to government
Photo: Supplied / NZTA / Mark Coote Councils at the bottom of the North Island have written to the government to say changes to the Ōtaki to North of Levin (02NL) expressway are short-sighted. Months out from work beginning, a revised design for the highway has seen on-ramps and overbridges removed and the northern end reduced from four lanes to two. The design also canceled the bridge that would link Manakau Heights to the rest of Manukau. The four councils which work together under the Wellington Leadership Forum - Greater Wellington and Horizons regional councils and the Horowhenua and Kāpiti Coast district councils - said the changes would curtail development. In a letter, they told Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop and Waka Kotahi chair Simon Bridges the proposals were retrograde and undermined the government's growth strategy. They said the downgraded proposals announced by the NZ Transport Agency reduced 02NL to what they described as a "minimum viable project". Significant new residential development was expected as a result of the development of Transmission Gully and the Kāpiti Expressway, the councils said. "We request an opportunity to meet on this issue, to understand what options you have to intervene as the Minister of Transport and the Chair: Waka Kotahi, to give the Lower North Island the quality of roading infrastructure that it is going to require to cater for the urban and industrial growth that is already materialising on this corridor." Waka Kotahi has said the design changes were primarily driven by the government's drive to save money. But Project Director Glen Prince said eighty percent of the design remained intact and the road would still be of significant benefit to the region. He said more work would have to be done before the agency could say how much money would be saved by the changes. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
21-05-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Public transport woes for Canterbury's big growth areas
Environment Canterbury is working to increase the bus frequency of its core routes, as funding is available. Photo: LDR/David Hill It is back to the drawing board on proposed bus services in the Selwyn district as Canterbury's regional council struggles with growing demand and limited funds , chairperson Craig Pauling says. Residents have expressed the need for more public transport in housing growth areas, including Selwyn in Canterbury, but submissions to ECan's 2025/26 annual plan indicated Selwyn residents did not want to pay the proposed targeted rate for it. Meanwhile, nearly $1 billion of government transport funds has been allocated to a single project, the Woodend Bypass, while just $220m was allocated to public transport. The council has also been under pressure from NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi to increase bus fares, amid a growing demand and a reduction in public transport funding in the 2024/27 National Land Transport Programme (NLTP). ECan confirmed last month it will increase the standard adult fare from $2 to $3 in the Greater Christchurch area from July 1. Child and youth fares, and charges for community service and total mobility card holders will also increase. In the annual plan, ECan proposed moving to a two-zone or three-zone fare structure from February next year. Under the proposal, Waimakariri bus users would pay $3 to travel within the Waimakariri district and $4 to travel into Christchurch. The third zone, if adopted, would apply in the Selwyn district to support population growth. Environment Canterbury is proposing an average rates rise of 9.9 percent. The regional council is due to resume its annual plan deliberations on Tuesday May 27, after receiving more than 740 submissions. The Selwyn District Council received a large number of submissions in last year's Long Term Plan calling for more bus services. But Pauling said without government funding, it was difficult for the council to fund an extension of bus services to Darfield, Kirwee and West Melton. With Selwyn residents not keen on paying increased targeted rates to establish a third zone, the council would need to look at other options. There is also interest in extending services to Ashburton and Amberley. Deon Swiggs (left) and Craig Pauling. Photo: LDR/David Hill Before NZTA Waka Kotahi funding could be approved, ECan needed to provide a business case, which could include a trial, and this took time and money. The 2024/27 NLTP allocated $1.8 billion to the Canterbury region, around 5 percent of the nation-wide budget, even though Canterbury is around 13 percent of the population. The inclusion of proposed housing developments in Waimakariri and Selwyn in the government's Fast-track Approvals Act could pose a headache for ECan, if these are approved, deputy chairperson Deon Swiggs said. Several proposed developments, such as Ohoka, near Kaiapoi, were outside the designated urban areas in the Greater Christchurch Spatial Plan, which was adopted last year. ''When you get out of sync development, we don't have the planning in place to respond,'' Swiggs said. Bus patronage has returned to pre-earthquake levels, but ECan is struggling to rebuild its bus fleet. Electric buses have been added to the core routes, including the Orbiter, number 3 (Airport to Sumner) and number 7 (Queenspark to Halswell) bus routes to increase bus frequency. ECan is proposing to invest in the number 1 (Rangiora to Cashmere) and number 5 (Rolleston to New Brighton) bus routes, if it gets support from NZTA. LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
