Next steps for transport after drop in government funding
Published on 02 October 2024
Elected members today discussed the implications of reduced government funding for transport projects over the next three years, and what Council’s next steps are.
The recently announced National Land Transport Programme funding allocations by NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) will see significant shortfalls in transport project funding for Palmerston North over the 2024-27 period.
The city will receive a total of $56.2M in co-funding, which represents just 43% of the co-funding that the Council had budgeted for in its Long-Term Plan. This allocation leaves a shortfall of about $74M.
The government’s Policy Statement on Land Transport highlighted its priorities for funding roads of national and regional significance, alongside a focus on road maintenance and pothole prevention.
Council has received almost all of its requested funding for pothole prevention and road maintenance, and we will also get some co-funding for part of the Amberley Ave bridge currently being constructed.
No co-funding was received for any business cases for new projects, which is how we unlock government funding for future large-scale capital projects. No proposed capital new projects received funding either. This includes the Transit Hub, Kelvin Grove and Stoney Creek Roads, Feilding to Palmerston North Shared Pathway and many others.
Co-funding for walking and cycling infrastructure – including footpaths, shared pathways and cycleways also took a major hit with us receiving just 22% of what was requested. We asked for $12 million dollars, and got $2.7M. To compare, we spent $1.1M on footpaths alone in the past year.
Elected members voiced their concern on the impact of having minimal funding for footpath maintenance in particular, and the impacts on Kelvin Grove Road and Stoney Creek Road.
Officers will now do some modelling to determine what changes to our transport programmes are required, including any projects signalled in our Long-Term Plan that may now need to be deferred. They will look at how funding for projects that had been proposed and budgeted for – but don’t have co-funding – could be reallocated to other work.
Elected members have asked officers to prioritise footpaths, the Stoney Creek Road intersection and Kelvin Grove Road, and city-wide drainage.
They also asked that we use existing debt that had been allocated for projects that didn’t receive co-funding, to complete the business case for the Regional Ring Road. Elected members clearly stated that despite the changes to funding, Council intends on staying within the total debt levels approved in our Long-Term Plan.
Council will provide another update to the community on those areas, and the wider transport work for the city, following its meeting in November.
When we consult on our Annual Budget in March, we’ll also seek further feedback on our transport programme.