We’ll take it as a win!

Recently some of our members started ringing in with issues about the Fernhill Bridge (Ngaruroro River Bridge) on SH 50 south of Napier. Weight restrictions on the bridge meant 40 kilometre detours for some operators, which was adding big delays, hiking fuel bills and increased freight costs that ultimately consumers have to pay.

Membership adviser Lindsay Calvi-Freeman did some advocacy work with NZTA and a meeting was set up which went pretty well. In fact it went so well, Fernhill is now the highest priority roading upgrade for the Central North Island!

It’s a nice example of how good contacts with our members, particularly those that are solution focussed and have a good understanding of industry level priorities, pays off and get things going at the government level.

Southern tour

I got to visit about 20 members in the Deep South last week on the way to the Road Transport Hall of Fame dinner at Bill Richardson Transport World in Invercargill.  Sorry if Jim and I didn‘t see you on our road trip, hopefully we can catch you next time (And if you haven’t been to Transport World there, do yourself a favour and go!)

There were a couple of things I noticed talking to the various operators.

One is that while things are tough, most are quietly confident they’ll get through this.

The other is the number of young people that are coming through both as operators and drivers. By young I mean pretty much anyone who’s a few years younger than me! But it is good to see and bodes well for the sector that these young brains are entering it with their energy and ideas.

The Hall of Fame was, as always, a great affair with top hospitality and it’s always a chance to meet up with friends and industry folks. Congratulations to the inductees as well, and well done for a life of contribution to the sector.

Tolling

A more contentious issue this week has been the opposition to the plans to toll the new Manawatū Tararua Highway which is to open next year, replacing the old Manawatū Gorge road that was closed by a huge slip in 2017.

While we appreciate the need to fund quality infrastructure, we don’t agree that the new highway should be a toll road.

Partly that’s because it is almost finished, and was never considered to be a toll road before now.

The other is the effects on the closely-connected communities of the Wairarapa and Manawatū, both of which use the link all the time for work, education, medical treatments and sports. NZTA’s suggested price has been $4.30 for light vehicles and heavy vehicles $8.60. While freight firms can pass that charge on, private motorists face some hefty travelling costs.

Tolling the road could see 3,000 vehicles per day, including a significant number of trucks, deciding to beat the toll and go over the existing Saddle Road route but Saddle Road is narrow, unsafe and barely fit for purpose. As well, the relatively low numbers of expected users (10,902) are also only narrowly within NZTA’s 10,000 vehicle per day tolling test, and we’ve seen local push-back over that figure.

There are two other road projects about to start that we support tolling on, which are the Ōtaki to north of Levin Highway, and Takitimu North Link near Tauranga.

Our reason for supporting those as toll roads, subject to a few more meetings with NZTA, is we believe both projects have been well signposted as being toll roads so everyone knows where they stand.

We do appreciate NZTA is in a tight spot here. The Coalition Government has some very ambitious roading projects planned, but the money isn’t there for everything. Tolling is traditionally the way to help offset the costs and the other alternative is increased government borrowing, with all the flow-on effects to the larger economy that most of our members don’t want to see.

But with community opposition being as it is, there is the risk that the benefits of a safer, more efficient, resilient piece of modern roading could be undermined.

Photo competition

We’ve got a $50 Prezzy Card for the person who can spot this location, and then tell us what is special about it. This might be a bit of a tricky one if you live north of Dunedin, but there’s a clue in the sign.

Get your entry in to me at Dom@transporting.nz