The Campaign For Better Transport

Media Release from The Campaign for Better Transport

The Campaign for Better Transport has proposed alternative options for a $1.7bn toll road between Puhoi and Wellsford to the Auckland Regional Council.

“The options we have put forward are far more cost effective, will save lives, and can be implemented far sooner than the current New Zealand Transport Agency proposal,” said Cameron Pitches, Convenor of the Campaign for Better Transport.

Based on work already done by the NZTA, alternative upgrade options have been costed at $160m – $320m.  Both options include a bypass for Warkworth and significant safety upgrades for notorious accident black spots.

Between 2000 and 2009, 41 people have died on SH1 between Puhoi and Wellsford, most in head on collisions.

“Given that sections of the toll road won’t be completed until 2019 and 2022, the risk is the current poor safety record will continue, costing as many as 50 more lives based on current trends.

“And for those that won’t be able to afford the toll road, we are concerned that the existing parallel highway will remain as dangerous as it currently is,” said Mr Pitches.

The Campaign for Better Transport also noted that NZTA’s own economic assessment highlighted the poor cost effectiveness of the current $1.7bn proposal.

“At best 80c will be returned in economic benefits for every dollar invested.  We estimate that the alternatives we have put forward will generate at least $2.50 for every dollar.  From an economic and safety point of view, the current proposal does not stack up. It makes no sense to invest such a huge amount of money if the benefits aren’t there,” said Mr Pitches.

The Auckland Regional Council Transport and Urban Development Committee endorsed the alternatives at its meeting on Wednesday. That committee has requested that officers undertake further work on the options presented, and the ARC will be writing to the NZTA and the Minister of Transport suggesting the alternatives be given strong consideration.

[ends]

Notes:

Puhoi – Wellsford Highway to be tolled:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10665246

Full presentation and report available here:
http://transportblog.co.nz/2010/08/11/operation-lifesaver-a-better-solution-for-puhoi-wellsford/#comments

Yesterday the Campaign for Better Transport presented to the ARC our alternative options for the current “holiday highway” motorway proposal:

• Based on current trends, up to 50 more people could die on this dangerous stretch of road by the time the $1.5+bn motorway is completed
• The current motorway proposal will run parallel to the SH1, as a tolled route.  SH1 will remain as is, without any modifications to it.
• For a fraction of the cost we can implement significant safety and traffic improvements. The current proposal does not stack up economically.

Josh Arbury has blogged more on this here.  The ARC has just issued a press release in support of our proposal here. Hopefully some sanity will prevail on how we best spend our transport dollars.

The Herald reports that:

Early community consultations are expected on route preferences for a new “road of national significance” costing up to $2 billion between Puhoi and the north of Wellsford.

That follows the Transport Agency’s awarding last week of a contract worth to $12 million for route investigation work on a proposed 38km link, entailing a four-lane extension of the Northern Gateway toll motorway to Warkworth and a dual-carriage expressway beyond that.

The investigation, by engineering and environmental specialists Sinclair Knight Mertz, is expected to take 15 months, but agency acting regional director Tommy Parker said he would be “disappointed if we are not talking about [route] options before about the middle of the year”.

 The Transport Agency fudges the poor economics of the project by saying:

…the figures were calculated by discounting the benefits at a standard 8 per cent each year after the road opens, a rate it sees as more appropriate to short-term projects.

It says if a 4 per cent discount rate could be used to reflect the longevity of the road, the economic returns could rise to $2 for every $1 spent.

I actually feel a bit for the NZTA here, basically being forced to justify a totally uneconomic project to satisfy the whims of the Minister of Transport.

Danielle Williamson’s well informed article on the proposed Puhoi to Wellsford motorway concluded that, mainly for reasons of road safety, the 35km stretch of road should be divided into a “proper motorway”.

However, doing so would be extraordinarily costly and technically challenging. Just the first section alone, between Puhoi and Warkworth, will not be completed for at least nine years, even if it were tolled.

We need to objectively consider the best use of an apparent budget of $2.3bn, rather than adopt an all-or-nothing approach.

For instance, the worst of the accident black spots could be upgraded to a higher standard far sooner than nine years from now. A Warkworth bypass could be built, perhaps to an expressway standard. The rail line to Northland could be repaired so that it is once again capable of carrying freight in a timely manner, reducing the number of large trucks on SH1.

It would be prudent to at least consider these alternatives, especially considering the likelihood of higher petrol prices in the next few years.

It is just galling to read the comments of Transport Minister Steven Joyce on the Puhoi to Wellsford holiday highway in the Herald today:

A report from the Transport Agency released yesterday by Mr Joyce gives estimates of cost for the whole job. These vary from $1.3 billion to $2.04 billion depending on how long it takes.

Mr Joyce said a $10.7 billion commitment to state highways over 10 years meant that funding was not the big issue for the project.

Funding is “not the big issue” even though this dog of a project promises to return 80c for every dollar invested. But the usual refrain of ”economic growth” apparently magically applies to this and all other roading projects, absolving anyone of justifying the cost:

Mr Joyce said the argument was getting lead infrastructure to help stimulate growth.

Quite how a wider holiday highway equates to economic growth is anyone’s guess.  Paying the unemployed to dig a big hole and fill it in again could potentially stimulate more growth than this utter lemon of a project.

And as Josh points out over at  his blog , the bottle neck is really Warkworth, the solution for which is a bypass around it.