The Government will spend $4 billion over the next three years fixing and preventing potholes on state highways and local roads nationwide.

Auckland will get a $478 million boost in pothole funding; Waikato will get $214m and Canterbury has been allocated $187m in funding.

Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today $2.07b in funding would go towards state highway potholes and $1.9b for local road potholes.

“We have ring-fenced this record investment in the Pothole Prevention Fund to resealing, rehabilitation, and drainage maintenance works to ensure that NZTA and councils get our state highways and local roads up to the safe and reliable standards that Kiwis expect,” Simeon says.

The NZ Transport Agency today confirmed indicative funding levels for Pothole Prevention Fund for the regions, ranging from $7m in Nelson to $478m for Auckland.

Where the money will be spent:

Regional breakdown of transport funding. Photo NZME.

Simeon says the NZTA board had confirmed the public transport service funding would increase by 39 per cent compared to funding under the previous Government’s land transport plan.

NZ roads were plagued by 62,000 potholes, the highest number in a decade, he says.

Asked about damage to Kiwis’ vehicles from potholes, Simeon says seeking compensation was difficult and he didn’t want Kiwis put in that situation in the first place.

“Our Government has inherited a significant backlog of road maintenance across the network. Last year, over 62,000 potholes needed repair on state highways around New Zealand. We are now catching up on the maintenance deficit to ensure that Kiwis and freight can get to where they need to go, quickly and safely,” Simeon says.

Simeon says the public transport funding investment included ferries and buses.

He described his transport plan as “back to basics”.

“Our number one priority is building the roads to a quality standard,” he says, adding the Government would not be distracted by previous plans such as Get Wellington Moving.

Truckies rejoice

Truck drivers have welcomed the pothole repair plan.

“Potholes are a continual hazard for road freight deliveries as well as the general public – we’ve seen record numbers of them, and a clear priority to address them is well overdue,” says National Road Carriers Association CEO Justin Tighe-Umbers.

“Our potholed roads cause millions of dollars of damage to trucks and cause physical and mental health issues for drivers. We know of drivers who have stopped working because of the stress caused by our substandard roads.

“New Zealand has badly potholed roads because road maintenance was previously inadequately funded from pay-as-you-go road user charges levied on trucks instead of being well funded and built as core infrastructure from the outset.”

In March, Simeon announced a new $500m Pothole Prevention Fund, fulfilling a pre-election campaign pledge.

Before the election, National lambasted the “shocking state of our local roads and state highways” and says it would find the money to fix potholes by slashing road safety initiatives including blanket speed limit reductions, “excessive speed bump installations” and the Road to Zero campaign.

Last month, Simeon unveiled a new roading project scheme, Roads of Regional Significance. Similar to the current Roads of National Significance, the programme will focus on important roads in the regions.

Simeon has made a series of transport announcements in the past few months, including relating to airport security, a new NZTA app for drivers’ licences, proposals for a new Wellington mega tunnel and a new speed limit on the Kāpiti Expressway.

In the Budget, a total of $2.68 billion for roads, rail and public transport was announced to unlock economic growth. Targets covered by the funding include 17 new Roads of National Significance as well as funding for the Rail Network Investment Programme.

The Budget boosted the Land Transport Fund with an additional $1b in capital funding, more than previously signalled, to accelerate the construction of the Roads of National Significance.