In Transit - March 1998 - No. 89 - Mobile phone dangers and preparation needed for major state highway projects

The March 1988 edition of InTransit highlights the growing dangers of mobile phone use on road safety, noting a paper to be delivered at a forthcoming conference reporting "mobile-phone users who make more than three calls per trip have nearly three times as many injury accidents and twice as many fatal accidents as those who never use a mobile phone".

At the time the then Land Transport Safety Authority noted that there were more crashes due to people lighting a cigarette or adjusting a car stereo than a mobile phone, but of course the numbers of the public with mobile phones in 1998 were still relatively modest.  A smaller article on the second page notes a Canadian paper that mobile phone use increases driving danger as much as drunk driving.  In 1998 there was no specific offence in New Zealand of driving whilst using a mobile phone.

Other notable articles in this edition are:

• A major project update noting progress on the following projects:
• Stage One Kamo Bypass, SH1, Whangarei (subsequently completed)
• Orewa Bridge replacement, SH1 Rodney District (completed the following month)
• Albany-Silverdale (ALPURT), SH1 Auckland, construction contracts let, resource consents sought for Silverdale to Puhoi (subsequently discontinued as the project was reprioritised and redesigned to be a toll road).
• Mercer-Cambridge four laning (later dubbed the Waikato Expressway). Designations sought for Mercer to Ohinewai, and corridor options being considered for Ohinewai to Cambridge. At the time it was thought the project would be completed in 2010, but was completed in 2022.
• Kopu Bridge replacement, SH25. Expected to be completed 2002, it was actually completed 2011.
• Hawke's Bay Motorway (later Expressway). Pakowhai to Hastings under construction, the York Road  (bypassing Hastings) extension under design. Full completion expected 1999 (which was true for those sections, but the final extension south was not completed until 2011).
• Vinegar Hill realignment, SH1 Manawatu. Under construction and was completed 1999
• Newlands Interchange, SH1 Wellington, under construction and completed late 1998
• Thorndon Motorway Viaduct seismic strengthening SH1, Wellington, under construction and completed 1999 (images included in this edition).
• Stoke Bypass, SH6 Nelson. Work commenced and would be completed on schedule in 2000.
• Otira Viaduct, SH73 Canterbury, Work underway and concluded in 1999
• Fairfield Bypass SH1 Dunedin, Route designation and resource consent applications lodged. Project would be completed in 2003.
• Success of the Thorndon motorway viaduct seismic strengthening project, designed to ensure it can survive a 1 in 500 year earthquake of up to seven on the Richter scale.
• Article describing the process (in 1998) of developing a major highway project before construction could begin, the stages being:
• Strategic planning
• Investigation
• Design
• Planning approval
• Land purchase
• Construction
• Transit NZ adopting new standards on road lighting.

In Transit - November 1997 - No. 86 - Summary of construction work commencing that summer

 

With the uplift in funding over the previous two years (lowering the benefit/cost ratio threshold of land transport funding capital works from 5 to 4.5 to 4:1), this edition of In Transit focused mostly on the construction work continuing and starting around the country at the end of 1997.  Perhaps what may be of interest today is the relatively modest price of so much construction work at the time, as even taking into account inflation (CPI) prices would be much more than the 88% increase since then, today.  Even on wage inflation of x 2.49, the costs of construction look modest. 

Key projects underway were:

• ALPURT (Albany-Silverdale extension of the Northern Motorway) enabling works, with opening expected in 2000 (and the whole route to Puhoi by 2002, which did not happen as funding priorities were changed following the change of government in 1999, seeing work terminate for several years at Orewa - and the Puhoi segment redesigned into a higher quality route and made into the first toll road under the Land Transport Management Act).  Budget at the time for the whole project was $175m
• Orewa bridge replacement (to be open February 1998).
• Te Here curves realignment, SH1 Waikato to be completed March 1998 ($750k)
• Napier-Hastings motorway extension (which did not become a legal motorway but rather classified as expressway). Essentially a two-lane limited access highway built from Pakowhai to Hastings along the long standing Hawke's Bay motorway corridor protected since the 1960s. Including the Ngaruroro River Bridge, the cost was $10.3m, and was described as the largest single road project in the region since the Runanga Deviation on SH5 in the late 1960s.  This provided a direct faster route from Napier to Hastings, especially as Omaha Road is adjacent to the main Hawke's Bay regional hospital. It was a 7.7km new road with a 323m bridge.
• Vinegar Hill realignment SH1 near Hunterville, at $5.8m. Includes 4.4km of new highway.
• Laws Hill realignment SH57 near Shannon at $3.5m, includes 2.5km of new highway and passing lane.
• Newlands Interchange Wellington SH1, at $17m
• Stoke Bypass Nelson SH6, at $26.2m including 7km of new road including grade separation and passing lanes.
• Otira Viaduct SH73 at $25m.
• Hawks Crag rock clearance SH6 Buller Gorge
• Tumai Realignment SH1 north of Dunedin at $2.8m, including 2.5km of realignment and a 800m passing lane
• Gorge Creek bluffs realignment SH8 between Alexandra and Roxburgh at $650k

Also mentioned is a sample of rough textured stone use for sealing road in Hawke's Bay to improve skid resistance and Transit's support for a speed enforcement campaign.

1997/98 National Roading Programme : Transfund News June/July 1997 No.5 and In Transit July 1997 No.82

 

This post contains both the Transfund and Transit NZ newsletters focused on the 1997/1998 National Roading Programme, the second National Roading Programme released by Transfund.  The key point was that the funding threshold for capital works had been lowered from a BCR of 4.5/1 to 4/1 (it had been 5/1 for some years before then). This saw $829.2m (exc.GST) being spent in that year.  This saw a 20% increase in road construction. Main construction projects funded included:

• Widening Auckland's Northern Motorway northbound from Onewa Rd to Esmonde Rd
• Albany-Puhoi realignment (Albany-Silverdale-Orewa section)
• Realignment of SH26 Platts Rd, Waikato District
• Realignment of SH5 Stockpile curves, Rotorua District
• Realignment of SH33 Maungarangi S bends, Western BOP District
• SH1 deviation Taihape
• Ngaere Overbridge realignment SH3, Stratford District
• Plimmerton-Pukerua Bay realignment and four laning, SH1 Wellington
• Realignment Sloans-Tumai, SH1, Otago
• Stoke Bypass construction SH6
• Khyber Pass, Symonds St, Newton St intersection upgrade, Auckland City
• Mt Eden/Balmoral intersection upgrade, Auckland City
• ALPURT-Orewa Link Road, Rodney District
• Stage 2 Glenorchy Rd seal extension ,Queenstown-Lakes District
• Southern Catlins Scenic Route seal extension, Clutha District

Also of note were modest increases in maintenance funding for local roads and state highways, continuation of similar funding for public transport subsidies, and funding for investigation and design works on several major projects notably:

• Kopu Bridge replacement SH25
• East Tamaki Corridor Arterial, Manukau City (later built as Te Irirangi Drive)
• R1 Arterial Hamilton City (later built as Wairere Drive)
• Kapiti Sandhills Arterial (later cancelled in favour of the Kapiti Expressway on a similar alignment)

It was noted that passenger transport funding was up 25% in Gisborne/Hawke's Bay, 14% in Manawatu/Wanganui/Taranaki and 9.6% in Otago/Southland. 

A separate leaflet on the new structure for Transfund New Zealand was also published (see below)

The In-Transit newsletter focused understandably on the state highway projects. Besides the projects listed above, it also noted funding to improve the Taupo northern access, the Vinegar Hill realignment at SH1/SH54 intersection in Rangitikei District and the widening of seven one-lane bridges on SH6 in Queenstown/Lakes District, as one bridge on SH94.  

Other articles in the In Transit newsletter noted:

• Development of modelling of traffic flows;
• Continuing construction of the SH16 Rosebank-Patiki Interchange on Auckland's North-Western Motorway (providing east bound off and on ramps to pair with the westbound ones that had long existed). 

In Transit - April 1997 - No. 79 - Focus on fixing crash black spots

 

In April 1997, the Transit NZ newsletter (no longer monthly as the previous edition was February, focused on the success in reducing the road toll.  It also reported on opening of a motorway extension in Auckland (SH20 Mangere to Papatoetoe) and commencement of work on another (SH1 Albany to Puhoi enabling works), with cost estimates that look remarkably cheap compared to today in real terms.

1996 had the lowest road toll in 32 years at 515 fatalities, 67 fewer than in 1995, and only higher than 1964 which had 428 with a much lower population and VKT.

It was attributed to a focus on drunk driving and speeding, along with the long standing "black spot" programme established in 1985 focusing on locations where there had been at least three injury accidents within five years. On all roads there were 4200 fewer injury crashes at locations remedied comparing 1985 to 1996, reducing crashes by 28%, with about half of the reduction on state highways.  The crash investigation programme gathered data on each site to identify the causes of crashes and what infrastructure improvements might address them.  A wider initiative was a highway inspection process to identify network deficiencies and develop a safety culture to address possible issues, like overgrown foliage blocking visibility at intersections. Covert speed camera trials were being considered to address speeding.

Page 2 continued the article on safety, but also South American interest in the reforms in the road sector, particularly from Colombia, with some observations on technology such as telecommuting and enabling motorists to "dial up" traffic cameras as part of Auckland's Advanced Traffic Management System (ATMS) (a precursor to accessing them online).

Page 3 announced enabling contracts had been let for the then $165m Albany to Puhoi extension to the Northern Motorway.  At the time, the motorway was to be four-lanes to Orewa, and only two-lanes with passing lanes from Orewa to Puhoi, but built to a standard to enable four-laning at a later stage (the tunnel was not envisaged at this time).  The project was intended to be completed by 1999, but only the Albany to Silverdale section had been completed by that date.  At the time, the project (ALPURT as it was then called) was the largest single road project ever undertaken in New Zealand, primarily because all other sections of motorway in Auckland (and other cities) were built piecemeal over many years.  

Page 3 also saw the opening of the SH20 extension between Mangere Bridge and Papatoetoe, and the Airport Motorway as far as Kirkbride Road intersection with George Bolt Memorial Drive (then only a single-lane highway with passing lanes). The entire project was a five km extension built at a cost of $40m.  It was notable as the first ever design-build contract let by Transit NZ. The project notably included four pedestrian over bridges along with eight local road over bridges, and associated cycleways. It was reported as having significantly reduced congestion on urban roads through Mangere, effectively combining two sections of motorway from Hillsborough Road through to Roscommon Road.  It also significantly reduced travel times to and from the airport (noting there was no eastern access route to the airport at the time).

Page 4 reports on the use of a vehicle using lasers to measure road surfaces on all state highways to help collect data for the RAMM asset maintenance system to better plan road maintenance across the network.  Finally, there is a report on the realignment of SH6 Rai Valley in Marlborough ($263,000) which required relocation of a 50 year old kauri tree. 

In Transit - August 1996 - No. 75 - 18% increase in state highway spending and Transfund separates from Transit

The August 1996 issue of In Transit is the first edition of the Transit NZ newsletter to be published after the agency's funding functions were transferred to Transfund NZ.  This issue focused primarily on the state highway funding provided by the 1996 National Roading Programme.  Key highlights of that were:

• 18% increase in state highway funding compared to the previous year
• New projects to be funded include:
• Hastings extension of the 2-lane Napier-Hastings Motorway (bypassing Pakowhai to terminate on the outskirts of Hastings). This would later be redesignated as the "Hawke's Bay Expressway" and see SH2 relocated to this route.
• Stoke Bypass SH6 Nelson
• Albany-Silverdale extension to the Auckland Northern Motorway as the first stage of the ALPURT project
• Otira Viaduct SH73 Canterbury to bypass the treacherous zig-zag section in Arthurs Pass
• BCR threshold for project funding had been lowered from 5 to 4.5 and was expected to be 4 the following year

The newsletter also notes that the split between Transfund and Transit means "Transit can focus its energies on being the national manager of the state highway network". It was noted it would enable the agency to focus more on its professional expertise including development of a state highway strategy, so that the network was developed in a co-ordinated way.

Other points in the newsletter included:

• Progress in the State Highway Review (which reviews which roads should or should not be State Highways). Noting that the Review proposed revoking State Highway status for SH1 from the entrance of the Port of Bluff to the southern tip due to the lack of tourist traffic
• Colder weather explaining more closures of Desert Road (noting postponement of a trial of using road salt)
• Various conferences

In Transit August 1996 p1

In Transit August 1996 p2

In Transit August 1996 p3

In Transit August 1996 p4

1996 National Roading Programme: Wellington NRP news

 The Wellington regional newsletter of the 1996 NRP has the following key statistics:

• $62m for the Wellington region
• $26.9m for the Nelson/Marlborough/Tasman districts
• For the Wellington region, state highway maintenance and construction is the largest output class comprising 34.9% of spending. Passenger transport was 25.4% of spending as the second largest output class.
• For Nelson/Marlborough/Tasman, state highway maintenance and construction was also the largest output class at 55.2% of spending

Unlike Christchurch, the Wellington newsletter contained little detail, noting the following committed projects:

• SH58 Judgeford realignment
• SH1 Newlands Interchange
• SH2 Gibbons Street seagull roundabout Upper Hutt

New projects funded included:

• SH6 Stoke Bypass, Nelson (the largest road project in the region)
• SH1 Basin Reserve traffic signals
• SH1 Paraparaumu widening
• SH60 reconstruction between Maisey and Bronte
• SH1 Thorndon motorway viaduct further strengthening 
• SH6 Spooners Hill passing lane
• Mungavin Bridge duplication, Porirua

1996 National Roading Programme: Canterbury/West Coast NRP news

The Canterbury/West Coast Transfund newsletter highlighted spending in the first National Roading Programme issued by Transfund New Zealand. Key statistics included:

• $49.24m to be spent in Canterbury
• $22.91m to be spent in the West Coast
• Local road maintenance and construction was the largest output class for Canterbury at 36.2% of spending.  Passenger transport was 7.2% of spending
• State highway maintenance and construction was the largest output class for the West Coast at 58.4% of spending.

Projects of significance on state highways included:

• Otira Viaduct on SH73. Cost of $26.1m to bypass the "zigzag" section and multiple slip and earthquake prone sections of highway, significantly improving resilience on the route.
• Craigieburn Bridge replacement on SH73 at $0.63m, replacing a single lane bridge with a history of accidents.
• Washdyke Bridge replacement on SH1 at $0.63m, which was an old two-lane stone bridge bottleneck on a three-lane section of highway.
• Additional passing lanes north of Rakaia overbridge, SH1

Projects of significance on local roads included:

• Rolleston railway crossing replacement, removing a dangerous level crossing that was the site of the infamous Southerner accident.
• Seven cycleway improvements in Christchurch City
• Committed improvements to the intersection of Moorhouse Avenue, Madras Street and Manchester Street in Christchurch City
• 1km seal extension on Inland Kaikoura Route in Kaikoura District

Unlike the Dunedin regional office newsletter, this newsletter contains detailed lists of projects approved, across State Highways 1, 73 and 6 and local road projects in Christchurch City, Hurunui District, Timaru District, Waimakariri District and Grey District.

Transfund News No. 1 July 1996 - National Roading Programme

This the very first edition of Transfund news following the launching of the Crown agency as the dedicated land transport funding agency, separated from Transit New Zealand (which remained as the state highway manager).  The edition was understandably focused on the 1996/1997 National Roading Programme, Transfund's first. It had previously been called the National Land Transport Programme reflecting funding for both roads and public transport, but the new emphasis was to reflect Transfund's role as essentially a purchaser of road maintenance and improvements, and public transport services, on behalf of motorists.

 Key elements were:

• $743.7m ($1.45b in 2023 prices) in total spending for the year (compared to $675.9m the previous year, a 10% increase).
• The increase reflected a Budgetary increase of $122.9m over the subsequent three years.
• The benefit/cost threshold for capital spending was reduced from 5:1 to 4.5:1 for the 1996/97 year and to 4:1 for the 1997/98 year. This reflected Government confidence in Transfund ensuring quality of spending and the general Budget entering surplus (enabling a greater proportion of fuel tax revenue to be directed to the National Roads Fund).
• The three-year cap on passenger transport funding was removed.
• Passenger transport funding was increased by $13.5m to replace funding removed due to abolition of regional fuel taxes.
• Additional spending was otherwise focused on increased maintenance, minor safety projects, new state highway construction projects, bridge reconstruction, continuation of seal extension.
• Major projects to start included:
• Albany-Silverdale section of the Albany-Puhoi realignment (SH1 Northern Motorway)
• Otira Viaduct SH73 Canterbury
• Stoke Bypass SH6 Nelson
• Orewa River Bridge Auckland
• Thorndon motorway viaduct seismic upgrade SH1 Wellington
• The newsletter contained a table comparing the previous year's spending by output class.

Transfund News July 1996 No.1 Pg1

Transfund News July 1996 No.1 Pg2

Transfund News July 1996 No.1 Pg3

Transfund News July 1996 No.1 Pg4

Momentum - Works Consultancy client magazine January/February 1996

The document muncher

As you can see the below magazine I was planning to scan has signs of teeth, in that the miniature dachshund above has chewed at it.  It's my fault for leaving it on the ground of course! So apologies if all the content is not clear!

Claudelands Bridge

Wellington Inner City Bypass

Wellington Inner City Bypass

Whangamoa Saddle

In 1996 the former Ministry of Works had been corporatised some years beforehand into an entity commonly called WorksCorp, but was officially the Works and Development Services Corporation.  This edition of its magazine I have selectively scanned for the articles on roads, but the first page (which was the last) also refers to its imminent privatisation.  It was sold as a going concern that year and became part of Opus Group. 

The articles in this edition include:

• Strengthening of the Claudelands Bridge in Hamilton City (which was originally the railway bridge for the East Coast Main Trunk Railway)
• Planning for the Stage 2 of the Wellington Inner City Bypass (later known as Karo Drive)
• Construction of the Whangamoa deviation on SH6 in Marlborough

In Transit April 1995 No. 62 - Restructuring of Transit New Zealand

 

In Transit April 1995 Pg1

In Transit April 1995 Pg2

In Transit April 1995 Pg3

In Transit April 1995 Pg4

The April 1995 edition of In Transit focused on internal restructuring of the agency into six divisions, which essentially foreshadowed the pending split of its land transport funding functions into Transfund New Zealand.  At the time Transit New Zealand was very much opposed to losing its funding functions, and this restructuring was, in part, designed to demonstrate to Ministers and MPs that it wasn't essential to set up a new land transport funding agency when Transit New Zealand could structurally separate internally.  Ultimately Ministers weren't convinced, as it was seen that there was a conflict of interest between Transit New Zealand being the largest recipient of National Land Transport Programme funds and also being the entity deciding on the allocation of those funds.  

The language used in this newsletter clearly indicates the intention of General Manager Robin Dunlop "Dr Dunlop is confident that this will remove any potential conflict of interest that may have been perceived to exist within Transit's previous structure".  Today Waka Kotahi/New Zealand Transport Agency is once again an integrated state highway manager and funding agency, as well as land transport regulatory authority.

Elsewhere this newsletter highlights:

• Completion of the SH1 Tamahere Deviation south of Hamilton, one of the first parts of the Waikato Expressway
• Noting the Authority visiting Waikato where it discussed the Pokeno Bypass, four-laning of SH1 from Ohinewai to Cambridge, Kopu Bridge (ultimately replaced over a decade later) and the Morrinsville Bypass (never built).
• All state highways to be tested for skid resistance
• Celebration of the completion of sealing of SH6 Haast Pass