Transport Minister Simeon Brown is celebrating Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency's confirmation of increased ring-fenced funding for pothole prevention.
Speaking at his Pakuranga electorate office, Brown hailed the news that NZTA's board had signed off on a 91 percent increase in indicative allocation for pothole prevention on state highways, and a total 50 percent increase for local roads.
It amounts to more than $1.6b in additional funding for pothole prevention, bringing the total to more than $3.9b.
The funding comes from the National Land Transport Fund, which is paid for largely through petrol excise taxes and road user charges. It forms a pool of funding to be allocated for transport maintenance and upgrades across the country, and would be used for other transport projects if it were not allocated towards potholes.
"We have ringfenced 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," Brown said.
"Kiwis want potholes fixed and our roads properly maintained, and this funding boost will deliver real results across the country. Boosting investment in pothole prevention will deliver a safe and efficient network for New Zealanders that increases productivity and supports economic growth."
Simeon Brown and Christopher Luxon survey potholes at an earlier announcement. Photo: RNZ / Delphine Herbert
In the leadup to the election, National announced it would set up a $500 million Pothole Repair Fund.
He said it was about ringfencing the money to ensure it was spent on preventing potholes.
"Increasing the number of kilometres of road being rehabilitated, increasing the number of kilometres being resealed, doing that drainage work which actually is what keeps the water off the road and keeps those potholes from forming, is critically important.
"This is an increase in funding, it's also an increase in how we want our roads to be looked after."
He said it was a back-to-basics approach.
"New Zealand road users, they pay their fuel excise duty, they pay their road user charges, to build and maintain the roads. That's the number one priority for this government from those fund.
"We're not going to get distracted by Auckland light rail and Let's Get Wellington Moving. We're focused on our core business of building and maintaining the roading network for New Zealanders."
He said the final National Land Transport programme would be finalised in August.
Brown told Morning Report last July the country's roads were the worst they had ever been, and were unsafe to drive on. Roads were critically important to a productive economy, he said.
However, the Labour government said it was spending $2.8 billion on highway maintenance - a 65 percent increase on what the previous National government had spent.
In a statement, Green Party Transport spokesperson Julie Anne Genter said Brown had created the "hype" around potholes but did not have solutions to the real challenges the transport network faced.
"Pouring $4 billion into potholes might as well be money poured down the drain if we fail to confront the climate crisis and prevent a future filled with wave after wave of natural disaster," she said.
"The coalition of climate deniers have their heads buried in potholes."
She said other transport solutions were desperately needed to shift money away from constant road repairs, including shifting more freight to rail and coastal shipping.