AA Northland welcomes the Government’s decision to top up the funding available for much needed road maintenance work in the region.

The Minister of Transport acknowledged in a National Land Transport funding announcement today that the Government was concerned about roads deteriorating.

The Northland AA has been a leading voice alongside many others highlighting the need for more maintenance.

“Road maintenance is a huge concern to Northlanders and it should be. The AA and everyone in our region will be very glad that the Government is investing more to get our roads in better shape. Even the best driver can lose control if the road isn’t up to standard,” says Northland AA District Chair Tracey Rissetto.

“In the last five years road surface quality New Zealand-wide has dropped. Northland’s state highways are of lower quality than most other regions, and our rate of road deaths is consistently two to three times higher than the New Zealand average,” she says.

AA Members in Northland have consistently ranked ‘road surface quality’ as their greatest transport concern in annual surveying the Association undertakes. This gave the AA Northland Council a mandate to strongly advocate on their behalf.

Tracey says: “Additional road maintenance investments have immediate and ongoing safety benefits.”

Waka Kotahi-NZ Transport Agency’s Standard Safety Intervention Toolkit notes investments to improve skid resistance can have benefits of up to $7 for every $1 spent. Other research places the benefits even higher.

“Road maintenance projects deliver excellent value for money, and they can start without delay. Investment in road maintenance creates jobs, improves road safety, reduces vehicle damage and operating costs, and delivers transport benefits that really matter to Northlanders,” says Tracey.

This increase in funding will ease some of the pressure rising costs have put on Waka Kotahi and mean they can deliver more of the maintenance work everyone wants to see.

“I’d like to send a huge mihi to everyone in our local community who have worked with us on this issue so far – there’s too many to name them all here,” says Tracey.

“The details in the public releases today still need to be worked through to work out how much new work there will be, so we’ll have more to say in coming days. But for now we are certainly heading in the right direction.”

ENDS

For more information contact:

Tracey Rissetto
AA Northland District Council Chairperson
New Zealand Automobile Association
M. 021 659 636