National announces plans for toll roads

STUFF.CO.NZ: Several large toll road projects would be built in partnership with the private sector under a National government, the party's transport spokesman, Maurice Williamson, said today.

Mr Williamson told Television New Zealand's Agenda programme that increased spending through slightly higher debt levels and public-private partnerships (PPPs) would allow a number of large projects to be brought forward.

Examples that Mr Williamson suggested included:

* The Waterview motorway on State Highway 20 in Auckland;

* a second Auckland harbour crossing;

* the Transmission Gully motorway north of Wellington;

* the south Waikato expressway; and

* State Highway 1 north of Auckland.

Mr Williamson said bringing in private sector money to fund these sort of projects would free up taxpayers' money to allow needed but lower priority second tier roading projects to go ahead.

He suggested a toll of between $3 and $5 dollars would be acceptable for a 40-minute saving in travel time.

The Government was spending about $1 billion on new roading and National was suggesting putting up to $300 million more into PPPs.

"So you're probably talking about 20 per cent of the new project and relative to the rest of the roading network it's sort of less than 2 or 3 per cent," Mr Williamson said.

He believed the public would only support congestion charges if there were good public transport alternatives to using cars, because without a choice the charge would be resented as a tax by other means.

National has proposed a rise in Government debt to speed up roading and other infrastructure projects such as broadband.

Mr Williamson said other countries – even those wealthier than New Zealand – extensively used PPPs through the government sector.

He cited private companies building and managing the maintenance of schools and hospitals in Australia.

Mr Williamson said National should at least look at doing that with a prison in New Zealand.