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After a history of underfunding, Rodney Councillor Greg Sayers is calling on Auckland Transport to safeguard a recent funding boost to improve rural roads.
The Regional Land Transport Plan (RLTP) 2024 has proposed $124 million in funding to the unsealed road improvement programme. In the previous RLTP 2021, the unsealed road budget was $40 million.
The budget will be used for unsealed roads in Franklin, Rodney, the Gulf Islands and the Waitakere ranges to do work such as sealing, road widening, strengthening and drain improvements.
The RLTP will go through a priority filtering process soon and Sayers wants to see rural road funding remain intact.
He said the newly allocated funding would see $12.5 million spent annually on unsealed road improvements, which was “a marked improvement”.
Sayers met with the Auckland Transport (AT) Board on September 26 with the backing of Mayor Wayne Brown, AT’s chief executive Dean Kimpton and all five rural councillors.
Following the meeting, he said the board seemed receptive to his message.
“The chair, Wayne Donnelly, acknowledged the historic underfunding for unsealed roads,” Sayers said.
Sayers pointed out AT’s Statement of Intent specifically highlighted the need for equitable treatment for maintenance and renewals.
He says the Statement of Intent says AT must “ensure the whole of the Auckland region benefits evenly from the maintenance and renewals programme, including rural roads.
“We are in a rather unique position of not asking for more money, but simply asking to safeguard what AT has already proposed, and not allow any cuts to it,” Sayers said.
The Auckland Anniversary floods and Cyclone Gabrielle put a spotlight on the vulnerability of rural roads and Sayers felt this contributed to a shift in priorities towards roading.
“If there was any highlight that came out of those events, it was the understanding of how vital these roads are,” he said.
