My Account
Upgrades to Brynderwyns detour routes and stronger transport connections between Northland and Auckland are among priority projects in a draft Northland Regional Land Transport Plan (RLTP), which closes for public feedback on March 15.
The RLTP is a programme of transport works through which the parties – Northland Regional Council, Kaipara District Council, Far North District Council, Whangārei District Council, NZTA and KiwiRail – jointly bid for funding assistance from central government.
The works in question include state highway and local road maintenance and large and small improvement projects; walking and cycling improvements; investment in road safety promotion and education; and planning and funding for the rail network and coastal shipping.
While inclusion of a project in the RLTP does not guarantee national funding assistance, it does highlight the region’s priorities.
Northland Regional Transport Committee (RTC) chair Cr Joe Carr said the review was to update funding requirements, to achieve a transport system prioritising being resilient, secure and fit for purpose, leading to reduced deaths and serious injuries, lower emissions and increased transport choice.
He said it had a big emphasis on back-to-basics road maintenance, including a focus on keeping water from damaging the roads, through measures such as more water tabling and maintenance of roading surfaces.
Top priority projects for the RTC include improvements to State Highway 1 between Te Hana and the Brynderwyns, and upgrades to the main detour routes around the Brynderwyns.
With SH1 at the Brynderwyns closed for repairs since February 26, those detours – an eastern route via Waipu, Cove Road and Mangawhai, and a western route for freight via Paparoa – are currently in
operation (MM, Feb 5).
At a drop-in session in Mangawhai on February 20, regional transport officials said proposed improvements to the detour routes over the next three years would include replacing one-way bridges, incorporating footpaths for cyclists and pedestrians, and removing the hairpin bend on Cove Road, between Langs Beach and Mangawhai Heads. During last year’s Brynderwyns closure, large trucks using the eastern detour were unable to navigate the bend, causing blockages and delays.
NZTA funding of $120 million was being sought for that work, although the regional officials acknowledged that it may not be forthcoming. Bigger decisions regarding alternative SH1 routes bypassing the Brynderwyns were “in the melting pot” and could impact funding decisions, one of the officials said.
“We’re just trying to make sure that if the NZTA wants to have good detour routes to the Brynderwyns, they’ve got to give us money to upgrade those routes. Ratepayers shouldn’t have to be fronting up as much as they’re having to do to have a state highway detour,” he said.
The work that has been underway up to now to make the detours acceptable for use over the next few months has been funded by NZTA, he noted.
The officials heard locals’ views on a range of issues, from alternative ways to deal with potholes and unstable sections of road to frustration about the time taken to improve rail links to Northland, and what some view as traffic management “overkill”.
Some urged councils to look to local contractors to carry out roadworks in the area, saying this would create employment in the community and help stem the post-schooling exodus of young people from Mangawhai.
The draft RLTP and online submission forms are available from the NRC’s website at www.nrc.govt.nz/transportplan
