Media Statement

Reliable travel times Land Transport NZ's focus for Auckland

More reliable travel times for public transport users, commercial operators and private motorists remains the focus for Auckland in the 2007/08 National Land Transport Programme (NLTP) released today.

Land Transport NZ has announced $2.4 billion in transport spending for New Zealand in 2007/08, including nearly $780 million for investment in Auckland’s land transport network.

This includes:

* $141 million for maintenance of state highways and local roads
* $452 million for construction of state highways and local roads
* $93 million for improvements to passenger transport operations and total mobility activities.

Land Transport NZ Acting Chair Paul Fitzharris says the agency and its partners are determined to make Auckland’s major routes more efficient and to make public transport an attractive alternative to car travel.

“Auckland passenger transport will receive a major boost later this year with the opening of the Northern busway,” Mr Fitzharris said. The Northern busway will provide dedicated bus and high occupancy vehicle transit lanes and facilities between the Auckland harbour bridge and Albany, enabling express buses to avoid congestion on the Northern motorway.

Land Transport NZ funding for Auckland in the past year has enabled the successful completion of:

* stage 2 construction of the Central Motorway Junction
* the Greenlane interchange upgrade
* construction of additional bus lanes and traffic capacity on Fanshawe Street in Auckland City.
Funding has also been committed for the continuation of major projects, including:

* design work on the Auckland-Manukau Eastern Transport Initiative from Auckland central business district to Te Irirangi Drive in Manukau
* the construction of the state highway 1 extension from Orewa to Puhoi.

Other projects that may be funded during the year include:

* design work on the Auckland-Manukau Eastern Transport Initiative
* widening of Onewa Road in North Shore city
* investigation and design of a replacement moveable median barrier for the Auckland harbour bridge.

The Road Safety to 2010 Strategy goal for the Auckland region is that by 2010 fatalities and hospitalisations will be fewer than 1,640 per annum. There were 81 fatalities and 3093 hospitalisations due to road crashes in Auckland during the 2006 calendar year. Funding for road policing activities to help reach the 2010 goal in the Auckland region totals $67 million for 2007/08.

Mr Fitzharris says the activities funded through the NLTP reflect Land Transport NZ’s objective of contributing to an integrated, safe, responsive and sustainable land transport system.

Regional newsletters, a fact sheet and the NLTP book, which details all projects in the 2007/08 NLTP, will be available at www.landtransport.govt.nz from 6pm today.

For more information:

Peter Kippenberger
Partnership Manager, Northern
(09) 969 9812 or 021 913 882

ENDS

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