Future-proofing Whangarei’s transport

FUTUR EPROOFING Whangarei’s transport

Whangarei deserves a transport system that can get our goods to market and our customers to our services reliably and efficiently. We need to reduce road deaths and injuries and we – and our kids and grandkids - need a transport system that is sustainable and doesn’t further damage our environment.

New Zealand domestic transport emissions have increased 90% since 1990: To prevent climate change threatening our way of life, we need to act now to reach our goal of zero carbon by 2050.

That means diversifying our transport networks to increase supply chain resilience, cleaning up by adopting EVs where possible and using lower-emission modes like rail freight and coastal shipping to complement Northland’s long-neglected roads.

The government is targeting all these areas – road maintenance, safety, cleaner transport and a more reliable supply chain –over the next few years.

Every Northlander knows about our road maintenance backlog. The previous government flatlined road maintenance spending to fund Waikato superhighways, but since coming into government, we have boosted it back up by nearly 50%. Now, the government has listened further to local community and council concerns, providing $2 billon of financing in the new National Land Transport Programme 2021-24.

Overall, with councils, we’ll be investing a record $24.3 billion into transport services and infrastructure over the next three years – a 44% increase compared to the last three years and 75% more than the previous government.

We’re also working on supply chain resilience and emission reduction. The Programme delivers $1.3 billion to implement the NZ Rail Plan and $30 million to support coastal shipping, with further announcements on how this will support freight to come.

Locally, funding the Marsden Spur rail-link to Northport is game-changing, enabling increased container freight through Northport, the only major port in New Zealand that is not rail connected. Before the port moved from Whangarei, KiwiRail carried a million tonnes of freight in Northland, dropping to around 100,000 tonnes when it went to Northport. Now, the Transport Ministry’s prediction is volumes could increase to around 2.5m tonnes a year.

The rail-line complements Northport’s plans for a shipyard and floating drydock and port extension to increase its stake in international and coastal shipping. Initial estimates suggest the shipyard alone would provide 400 direct jobs for Northland. I continue working with Northport to realise its potential.

Meanwhile, key routes such as State Highway 1 (SH1) are critical for Northland. During the next three years, we’re putting $103 million throughout Northland to improve safety, with a particular focus on the three most dangerous stretches of the 80km of SH1 from Whangārei to Wellsford, including the Marsden/Whangarei corridor. We know these measures work, because we’ve seen drops of up to 80% in deaths on the 10km between Toetoe Road and Springfield Road since mid-2018, when similar safety measures were installed.

However, increasingly severe weather from climate change (and any future Covid-19 shifts) both risk more supply chain disruption, so on top of the road maintenance investments, we’re putting $3.9 billion into improving communities’ connections, ensuring freight reliability and improving resilience across the country.

Our transport investments are also investments in our Covid recovery, providing ongoing work for local businesses and people now, while helping protect the future of the next generations.

Boss Mike Tana (20+ years in rail) and Panapa Davis, the new train driver trainee.

Checking out the planned site where the new rail spur will join the main line, against the background of one of the new bridges funded in last year’s Budget.

Planning underway for the Marsden Rail spur.

Emily Henderson

MP for Whangārei

If you ’ ve got any case work that needs taking up or have questions about our policies, then please get in touch with my office. My team and I can help you with a wide variety of issues! Get in touch: (09) 430 7922 | Emily.HendersonMP@parliament.govt.nz 66a Bank St, Whangārei