Government to Combine Three Northland Roads of National Significance

The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme. A new delivery model will ensure the project moves more quickly and efficiently, according to Transport Minister, Simeon Brown.

“For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections between Northland and the rest of the country has been a handbrake on the region’s economic development” Mr Brown says.

The Government has agreed to an accelerated delivery strategy that will enable the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to move at pace. The concept is to deliver the Northland Roads of National Significance as a single expressway between Auckland and Whangārei.

“Delivering a programme as large and complex as this at pace requires a significant shift in delivery approach.

“An accelerated delivery strategy developed by NZTA includes a progressive public private partnership model that will achieve efficiencies and innovation in planning, procurement, design and construction…It will do this by treating the three Roads of National Significance as three stages of the same project, and incentivising the development partner to deliver excellence in design, construction, financing, maintenance, and operation for each phase of the expressway.

“Taking a corridor approach means NZTA will avoid multiple procurement processes. It will also deliver integrated design, construction, maintenance and operations across the entire Northland Expressway. It will allow greater efficiencies through scale to deliver the project up to 10 years faster than traditional approaches.

“The Government will also be considering legislation changes that could accelerate delivery and provide increased certainty for delivery partners. Options under consideration include changes to the Public Works Act to speed up delivery.

“The Northland Expressway is one of the largest infrastructure projects in New Zealand’s history. We are considering a wide range of funding, financing, and delivery tools to get this project completed as soon as possible.”

Last year, a Northland report found that the Warkworth to Wellsford section of the expressway alone would increase New Zealand’s annual GDP by $497m.

“Once completed, the Northland Expressway will provide a modern, reliable, and efficient link between Northland and Auckland, unlocking economic growth and productivity by moving people and freight quickly and safely across the region,” Mr Brown said.