Media statement | 26 June 2007

Road maintenance and improvements Land Transport NZ’s focus for Taranaki

Maintaining and improving the region’s road network is a key objective in the 2007/08 National Land Transport Programme (NLTP) for Taranaki.

Land Transport NZ today announced $2.4 billion in transport spending for New Zealand in 2007/08, with nearly $43 million allocated for investment on Taranaki’s land transport network. This includes $30 million for maintenance of state highways and local roads.

Land Transport NZ Acting Chair Paul Fitzharris says the transportation of dairy and forest products continue to have an impact on the region’s roads, leading to increasing demand for intersection upgrades, wider bridges and passing lanes.

Continued funding has been committed to a variety of projects in Taranaki, including the construction of the Bell Block bypass on State Highway 3.

Other projects which may be funded during the year include:

• upgrading three bridges in the South Taranaki district
• six bridge and culvert replacements in the New Plymouth district
• the design of a pedestrian underpass in New Plymouth to improve safety.

Mr Fitzharris said a new element in this year’s NLTP is the inclusion for the first time of community focused activities, including road safety and sustainability initiatives. This change means the planning and funding of these activities can now be integrated with the delivery of travel behaviour change projects, road safety, engineering and other NLTP activities.

The Road Safety to 2010 Strategy goal for the Taranaki region is that by 2010, fatalities and hospitalisations will be fewer than 100 per annum. There were 12 fatalities and 89 hospitalisations due to road crashes in Taranaki during the 2006 calendar year. More than $7 million has been allocated to road policing activities in the Taranaki region to help reach the 2010 target.

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:

Rosalie Orr
Partnership Manager, Midland
(07) 958 7840 or 0274 523 230