National’s roading Policy is an un-costed joke using garbage numbers

ByMartyn Bradbury

Just like their prison policy, National’s new roading policy is an un-costed joke using garbage numbers…

National proposes new highways, Labour dubious on cost estimates

1 News on Sunday reported documents showed officials’ cost estimates were much higher than what National claimed – such as the Warkworth to Wellsford section, which National said would cost $2.2b but officials put at up to $4b.

The $6b cost National cited would be almost as much as the government planned to spend on state highways nationwide between 2021 and 2014 ($6.6b) through the NLTF. It was larger than planned spending from the NLTF on public transport over that same period ($4.b) and dwarfs the $1b allocated to walking and cycling improvements.

…their numbers are bullshit and they are already mooting Tolls and Public Private  Partnerships to fund this infrastructure because National and ACT refuse to raise taxes on the rich to fund this necessary infrastructure.

But it is dinosaur thinking that utterly ignores the climate and its impact on our roading system. We have the current pot hole problem because when National were in power last time they underfunded the road repair budgets and their solution to that now is to take money from making roads safer to fund filling in the the pot holes!

The problem isn’t filling in the pot holes, it’s properly funding the infrastructure by taxing the rich to pay for it rather than user pays, Public Private rorts and bullshit costings!

If you believe National’s road costs, I’ve got a bridge to sell you.

 

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48 Comments

  2. It’s a start, but doesn’t sound like anywhere near enough. The rest of the inter-provincial highway system is stuck in the 1940s, and the railways and tramways have regressed from the extensive 1950s peak back to a pre-1900 sized network.

  4. I really don’t care that their estimates are 10% out. ALL those jobs need to be done and there is no way Lab could deliver a pizza let alone a road

    1. At least people can still afford a pizza 10% is a lot when you’re talking billions.

  5. The Puhoi to Warkworth section cost $900 million. It goes through some quite difficult country. Transmission Gully was a similar cost, through even more difficult terrain.
    The Warkworth to Wellsford section is a similar length, also through some difficult country. Why would it cost four times more?
    National will have got its numbers from the likely contractors, since the motorway is already consented and is mostly already designed.
    I know Labour has lost control of inflation, but even I would not say inflation is 400 percent since since 2015 when the Transmission Gully and the Puhoi Warkworth contracts were let.
    Mr Parker was saying last night that National has undercosted the whole package by $2 to 4 billion. That is between 7 and 15 percent more. So that means the costing is actually reasonably accurate.

  6. Ha ! Once again the major factor of Bitumen isn’t addressed. The closure of Marsden point and the lack of bitumen globally due to 9% of oil refineries during the pandemic has the ongoing effect on our road infrastructure. You can’t build and maintain roads without bitumen hence why our roads are rooted.

  7. Versus Labours grating mummy knows best 30 km/hr urban speed limit nirvana? I’ll take connectivity at 20th Century speeds, any day!

  8. The Natzos road and truck love has dogged this country since the first quarter of the 20th century–and before some tory points out that National did not exist until 1936–its constituent parts did. Rail was meant to make it all the way to Kaitaia, but the local MP Allen Bell was got at by the trucking lobby, meetings in farm sheds, and canned it.

    A decision that has made life a misery for Far Northerners in various ways ever since.

    Natzos are actually dingbat crazy even suggesting this fantasy. They probably have heard of Global Boil–but they just don’t care. There is not the capacity to build those roads even with PPPs (and they go well don’t they…e.g. Transmission Gully). A Chinese Team could possibly do it, if they got past the US Aussie blockade!

    The Key point is that this is just an extreme version of the not happening 10 Bridges plan for Northland, and such massive roads are not needed at a time when a contraction due to climate disaster is likely to happen.

  9. EV cars need roads so better roads are needed .Labour have done nothing to improve transport road rail or public. Toll roads work well in Australia and Europe .If a better road makes travel, quicker and saver then tolls are offset

    1. And hydrogen powered trucks to Trevor. I don’t have a problem with some new roads at all but rail is probably an answer in some places too. Shouldn’t they do something about rail from North Port or is all that forgotten? What they need to stop doing is low balling and being absolutely paranoid about any debt. It’s f’ing ridiculous

    2. Toll roads price the poor of the road. I’ll fight to the death for free roads.

  10. lol… the BAU infinite growth thinking on the right is as delusional as their leaders God myth. Although the SH29 intersection with SH1 is a no brainer upgrade that should have happened years ago.

  11. We still build roads on a ‘when we are ready’ basis, work teams put up road cones that are there 24/7 and then the work only seems to happen on a ‘9 to 5’ schedule, all extending delays and the cost. We need shifts working round the clock on infrastructure. Bring back a Ministry of Works, run with prescision, and a forward planing team to make it happen. Those partnerships with construction firms are inevitably tilted toward maximising their profit.

  12. We live in a world of garbage information thanks to people rarely looking past the headlines and the media rarely doing its job – of critiquing those in power. If the media continues on as is, then this initiative will be an absolute winner for the Natz.

  13. The last time there was a by-election in Northland, National was in govt, and promised to build 10 new bridges in Northland. How many of those 10 promised bridges got built? It’s easy to make election bribe promises, but what was the reality? Was building those 10 bridges only contingent on National winning that by-election, because they lost it?
    National wants to increase green house gas emissions by building new highways, indefinitely delay putting agriculture emissions into the ETS, being against the electric vehicle subsidy, and being against curbing new fossil fuel drilling – all at a time of the hottest month recorded in human history, with the Secretary General referring to global warming as “global boiling”. When will the next cyclone hit NZ?
    Will the light of understanding, only go on in sadsack Chris Luxon Montgomery Burn’s head, when one of his 7 residences gets wiped out in a severe weather event? Not many of us have 6 spare houses we can move into.

    2. Kiwi build failed because it was not the best plan, pandering to the aspirational middle class, but the main reason was developers and the building industry basically went on strike and refused to support it in a useful way–because they want high margin jobs only! Selfish fuckers.

      Bridges however are public infrastructure that everyone potentially gets the benefit from.

    3. We all know who has the worse track record for social housing Thomas the same party who has the worse track record for superannuation.

  14. If it knocks off a few minutes drive to the beach house then it must be so. Alarming that a carbon rich roading campaign dominates National policy in this apparent end of days climate emergency. Because of this recklessness I propose psychologically testing all MPs to see if they are fit to serve (including testing for drugs and alcohol) extending these evaluations out to the entire public service immediately. Dear god please tell me the dog squad won’t have to be called during these screenings.

    1. “end of days climate emergency”
      I thought it was “global Boiling” now, Ethan. If you’re going to lie, lie big.

  15. Truly ridiculous. Why if we have this sort of dosh isn’t it being put into rail.

    Aaaah because the trucking and roading lobby have too much influence.

  16. More roads, all tolled so the rich pricks in their Ford Rangers don’t have to put up with the poors in the old bombs

  17. Labour need to outbid them with a 4 lane highway Whangarei to Dunedin plus an Auckland Wellington bullet train like any country with real infrastructure.

  22. It’s pretty clear now the money will come from offshore. Mr Luxon will add us to belt and road. Of course it xenophobic to even mention that according to him. It’s not woke when screams “racism”

  23. Nationals new housing policy for the homeless is their proposed Basin Reserve flyover at least the homeless they will be dry, and they can put out their begging bowls without getting wet.

  24. Nationals new housing policy for the homeless is their proposed Basin Reserve flyover at least the homeless will be dry, and they can put out their begging bowls without getting wet.

  25. National delivered two bridges up North but if you count Simon that equals three bridges. Then we had the PPP Transmission Gully the cost blew out and the PPP fall apart with the new roads damaging peoples’ cars and the new government having to fix the mess left by National so National can’t claim have done a good job there.

  26. Nationals Basin reserve flyover plan can kill two birds with one stone, shelter for the homeless and a one-to-two-minute improvement in travel.

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