Press Release – NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency is taking advantage of continued fine weather in Northland to push ahead with its summer road maintenance programme. All crews are back at work after the Christmas holiday break but will stay off the roads on the …
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency is taking advantage of continued fine weather in Northland to push ahead with its summer road maintenance programme.
All crews are back at work after the Christmas holiday break but will stay off the roads on the Fridays before Auckland Anniversary Weekend (Friday, 29 January) and the Waitangi Day Weekend (Friday, 5 February) to minimise disruption for holiday traffic.
Transport advocates are using the courts to challenge the Government’s transport agency for “failing to adapt to the climate emergency”. Transport advocacy group Movement is using a Nelson transport project as a test-case for decisions around the country, hoping to bring about a more environmentally conscious transport agency. Movement lodged a judicial review challenging Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency for its decision-making in the Nelson Future Access Project, a long-running investigation into a “future-proofed transport system” for the city. Movement chairwoman Christine Rose said the judicial review was motivated by the transport agency “failing to adapt to the climate emergency that we are in”.
That’s the equivalent of the entire annual budget for state highway improvements. The worst offenders were the Wellington Roads of National significance, which went $381m over budget, and a series of Auckland roads that went $352m over budget. The cost overruns were revealed in written Parliamentary questions to Green party transport spokesperson and former associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter. Genter said construction costs were increasing too fast.
Ross Giblin
Transmission Gully has run hundreds of millions of dollars over budget. “Construction costs have been increasing at an alarming rate over the past few years. NZTA clearly needs to do more to get costs under control.”