Comment: Slowing NZ down

By: Nick Leggett, Transporting NZ CEO, Photography by: Supplied

Date: 24.01.2023

The latest Government proposals for speed reductions could see speed limits reduced by as much as 40km/h over 500km of state highways

Slowing down our state highways slows down our economy and deserves greater analysis, says Transporting New Zealand

The latest Government proposals for speed reductions could see speed limits reduced by as much as 40km/h over 500km of state highways, slowing down freight movements and adding extra costs to businesses and families.

I believe that major policy and funding decisions like this need to be made taking into account all the impacts, but while such proposals go out for public consultation, little analysis is done on what these speed limit reductions would mean for our economy or more specifically the road freight sector.

When it comes to making decisions over other transport projects, such as new road or rail routes, a benefit-cost analysis is a must-have, however, when it comes to speed setting, such analysis is completely absent.

Don’t get me wrong. Road safety is incredibly important to Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand and our membership, and I’m supportive of ensuring safe speeds outside rural schools and marae.

However, the latest plan goes further than that and proposes speed reductions in 440 locations, across 500km nationwide. This is a serious issue because if you slow down trucks unnecessarily, you slow down the economy.

Not only does that cost businesses and communities money as transport costs increase but it also means additional trucks (and drivers) are required to undertake the 93% of our national freight task that’s delivered on the road.

To say this Government doesn’t believe in roading has to be one of the great understatements. Since taking office, they have only approved one new state highway project — the replacement to the Manawatu Gorge.

This has meant we’ve lost five years in which progress could have been made replacing a number of dangerous stretches of road with more modern fit-for-purpose infrastructure.

Fundamentally, there seems to be an ideological view both within the governing political parties of the last five years and also the bureaucracy that if you slow down and run down our roads enough, eventually, New Zealanders will be forced to choose other modes of transport.

Nobody is saying don’t invest in public transport, cycling, and walking but that needs to be balanced with the acute need to upgrade our roads for a 21st Century economy that will rely on the efficient movement of people and freight.

To pin our hopes on rail freight being expanded much beyond where it is now is unrealistic. Analysis Transporting New Zealand released earlier this year showed that, at best, rail could only compete for and gain 10% of the freight task; the rest will still need to be transported on the road.

Like many of us in the transport industry, the Waikato Chamber of Commerce has run out of patience with this lack of roading investment and has recently launched a petition calling on the Government to extend the Waikato Expressway from Cambridge to Piarere.

The current condition of this piece of road poses an unacceptable risk to the tens of thousands of trucks and light vehicles that use it every day. Since 2000, there have been 29 fatalities and 97 serious injuries between Cambridge and the intersection of SH1 and SH22.

Waka Kotahi estimates that the $635 million extension to the Expressway will take four to five years to complete and result in a reduction in deaths and serious injuries of more than 70%.

If that’s not a good enough reason to fund this project under Road to Zero, then I don’t know what is. You can sign the Chamber’s petition at cambridgetopiarere.com.

Sadly, this will be my last column for Deals on Wheels. I’d like to thank all of our regular readers as well as Randolph and his team for their support over the years and wish them all the best for the future.

With an election coming up next year and plenty of important issues facing the road transport sector, Transporting New Zealand will continue to vigorously advocate on behalf of transport operators.

If you want to keep up-to-date on what we’re doing and saying, you can find us on Facebook and Twitter as well as through our website at transporting.nz.   

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