Transport minister won’t rule out toll for Ashburton’s second bridge
By local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:
The minister of transport was given a belated birthday cake adorned with a picture of the Ashburton Bridge in a not-so-subtle reminder from his colleague.
Simeon Brown visited Ashburton on Friday to open the office of Rangitata MP James Meager and the Fairfield Freight Hub.
Meager presented Brown with the cake with a extra sweetener - a photo of the Ashburton Bridge as a reminder about the proposed second bridge project.
The bridge is listed as a road of regional significance and the minster said he wants all funding options on the table and hasn't ruled out the option of introducing a toll, either on the new bridge or existing State Highway 1 Bridge, to help pay for its construction.
During his visit, minister Brown was asked repeatedly about the plans for Ashburton’s second bridge – including a sit down with mayor Neil Brown.
At the office opening, the minister said he was impressed at the over-sized novelty scissors used to cut the ribbon that had been borrowed from mayor Brown.
The mayor was quick to quip that the minister was more than welcome to use them again when he opened the second bridge.
The bridge has been included in the re-draft of the Government policy statement on land transport, which sets the direction for NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) Waka Kotahi.
Minister Brown said he did not have an update while it was going through the process.
“The next step is for NZTA to put the national land transport programme together,” he said.
“We are obviously committed to the project, and that process will identify when and how it will be delivered.”
The question remains how it will be funded, and by who.
As it is not a state highway but a local road project, the minister suggested there would be a requirement for the council to contribute.
The process would provide the answers about how it was funded, who funded what, and when construction would begin, he said.
With myriad infrastructure projects required around the country, the Government was looking at “a range of funding and financing tools”.
“All of our roads of national significance should be tolled.
“Part of that is so we can protect the maintenance budgets, particularly for rural state highways, and rural and local roads, because we need to make sure we are doing a much better job of maintaining what we have currently got.”
The direction to NZTA was that all options should be on the table for funding the bridge, he said.
“The reality is there is only a limited amount of money in the land transport fund and so we need to look at all funding and financing tools to get things happening.
“Funding is part of the puzzle but consenting has become another challenge which can delay projects by years.”
The Government was looking to pass fast-track consent legislation that could help expedite the bridge construction when the time comes.
Mayor Brown said he had a good discussion with minister about ways the bridge could be funded, and discussion about funding options would now take place between NZTA and the council.
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Ashburton’s second bridge cost bumped up
By local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:
The cost to build Ashburton’s second bridge has leapt to $130 million as questions remain on how it will be funded.
The council has kept its contribution at $7.5m, despite the estimated price jumping by 15% in two years.
Ashburton Council chief executive Hamish Riach provided councillors with an update on the second bridge after he recently met with Minister of Transport Simeon Brown.
The Government has made the bridge, a key State Highway 1 route in Canterbury, a national transport priority.
Minister Brown made it clear that the council would need to look for funding in the National Land Transport programme process, Riach said.
That will start with conversations between the council and NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi around “innovative funding mechanisms”.
After meeting, Riach and Mayor Neil Brown reached out to NZTA regional relationships director James Caygill about “actively getting on with those conversations with their funding people”.
The National Land Transport programme is an investment package for priority transport projects.
For a project to be included in the National Land Transport Programme it has to feature in a council’s long-term plan, Riach said.
The council has chosen to keep the $7.5m figure in its budget planning, even though the cost of the project has increased.
The business case prepared in 2022 estimated the project – a 360m-long bridge across the Ashburton/Hakatere River and new road infrastructure - would cost $113m.
An NZTA document prepared in November estimated the project will cost between $100-$200m.
A recent report from Infometrics, commissioned by Local Government New Zealand, found that over the last three years, costs have gone up significantly and bridges are 38% more expensive to build.
“We note the bridge is programmed to cost $130m and our share, at $7.5m, may or may not survive the whole funding process.
“A lot is going on in this space that is incredibly uncertain.”
The council will adopt its LTP in June – including the $7.5m figure – before knowing what the NLTP entails, Riach said.
“It makes for a messy picture for this project in our formal plans and budgets.”
The minister acknowledged the need for the bridge - easing congestion and improving safety on SH1 - and as a result, the subsidy rate “needed to reflect the improvement to the state highway network”, Riach said.
“We took from that, that a subsidy rate ahead of our normal FAR (funding assistance rate) was entirely justified.”
Rather than a 51% FAR subsidy the business case suggested a 62%, but the question remains how to fill the gap between 62% and 100%, Riach said.
Mayor Brown said the minister also spoke of the Government looking at different ways of funding roading going forward.
This included the possibility of road tolls, Riach said.
“He reiterated that it is certainly his intention to review the way in which tolling is a mechanism for funding projects a little bit later in the year.”
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No tolls without law change
Under legislation, tolls can only be placed on state highways, not on a local road, which is what the second bridge is considered to be.
It also prevents an NZTA toll from raising funds for a council project – so a toll on the existing SH1 bridge couldn’t be used to fund the new local road bridge.
A legislative change could see the possibility of introducing a toll on the existing SH1 Ashburton/Hakatere Bridge or on the second bridge to pay for the project.
There are currently only three toll roads in New Zealand – the Northern Gateway Toll Road north of Auckland, the Tauranga Eastern Link Toll Road, and the Takitimu Drive Toll Road, both in Tauranga.
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