Proposed Otago Regional Land Transport Programme completed

The Otago Regional Land Transport Programme (RLTP) for 2012-2015 has been completed and will now go to the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for consideration.

At its June meeting the Otago Regional Council (ORC) received and discussed the proposed programme recommended from the Regional Transport Committee, after 91 submissions were received during a public consultation process.

The RLTP is the Otago region’s bid for national funding of transport infrastructure and services through the National Land Transport Fund (NLTF), which NZTA administers.

Acting ORC chairman David Shepherd said the RLTP is an ORC recommendation for funding support.

“There are many factors that determine whether or not funding will be available for delivering the programme and some depend upon the participating agencies -- Otago councils and NZTA itself – securing the required funds,’’ Cr Shepherd said.

“The final decision on which activities to fund nationally rests with the NZTA board, which approves a programme allocating the National Land Transport Fund.”

As well as compiling Otago local authority and local NZTA transport activities into a single plan, the programme recommends how NZTA should prioritise use of the national funding potentially available to Otago.

The programme recommends expenditure of $452 million over the next three years – about $417 million of which qualifies for an NZTA subsidy of about $293 million.

Territorial local authorities plan to spend about $35 million (about 7.7 percent of the total programme) on projects which do not attract an NZTA subsidy.

Cr Shepherd said that given the region’s poor road safety performance during the 2009-2012 RLTP, almost all the new projects in the current RLTP sought to highlight safety-related projects associated with:

• improvement of intersections and other accident hotspots

• the provision of safe roads for all users, not just drivers

• ensuring roads with heavy freight traffic are well maintained.

• driver information and education

 

Specific key projects for which funding is sought include:

• investigation and design of a replacement Beaumont bridge (2012-14)

• strengthening of the Clydevale bridge (2012-13)

• retrofitting of safety devices  such as rumble strips and barriers (and hazard removal) at high risk accident spots on state highways

• improving Harington Point Road on the Otago Peninsula.(2013-14).

 

NZTA’s National Land Transport Programme, including Otago projects to be funded, will be published in August.