A reliable network supports a thriving New Zealand, enabling the travel required for work, business, recreation and community well-being. Road maintenance keeps assets functioning and fit for purpose.

Local and central government will spend approximately $4.2bn over the next three years on maintaining the road network, comprising 10,900km of state highways and 84,000km of local roads.

Maintenance outcomes

2015-18 NLTP outcomes

Local government

For local government, investment in the maintenance programme, including emergency works, will increase 7.5% from $2.98bn in 2012-15 to $3.15bn in 2015-18. This is 98% of the maximum provided for under the Government Policy Statement for local road maintenance. This is further enhanced by changes to the Funding Assistance Rate system which, following a review in 2014/15, increased the subsidies to local government by about $100 million.

There have been some significant increases in maintenance investment in a number of areas. Christchurch is shifting emphasis from earthquake recovery to re-establishing its maintenance programme, needing an additional $37m of funding to achieve this. Northland gets an additional $35m, primarily to repair damage caused by logging trucks and keep the area network reliable.

Some councils have managed to reduce expenditure while still maintaining reliable networks, reflecting the call for greater efficiency and guidance on better practices provided by the Road Efficiency Group. These savings mean lower costs to ratepayers and enable the Transport Agency to invest in other priority areas.

State highways

Investment in maintaining state highways will increase to $1.68bn over three years, including an estimated $150m for emergency works. The state highway network is vital for the efficient movement of people and freight. While it represents only 12% of the total road network, it accounts for 50% of the vehicle kilometres driven every year and around two-thirds of the distance travelled by heavy freight vehicles.

The Transport Agency, in managing the state highway network, has contained costs and is increasing efficiency by closely monitoring items such as pavement treatments, to ensure all works are cost effective. The Transport Agency is also part of a sector-wide initiative to increase the efficiency of road maintenance activities.

On the East Coast, the Transport Agency and Gisborne District Council have been working towards a collaborative approach for delivering maintenance programmes over the combined state highway and local road network. The goal is to deliver these services more efficiently and cost-effectively and provide a better experience for customers. The outcome of this work is an innovative joint venture called Tairawhiti Roads.

Management of the Transport Agency network was handed over to Tairawhiti Roads in March 2015 as this provides for smarter asset management, better decision making and cost savings through regional efficiencies.

Road Efficiency Group

Organisations involved in the management of roads have been working together to develop consistently better practices through the Road Efficiency Group (REG). Its goal is to maximise value for money by improving performance in road maintenance, operations and renewals throughout the country. Since its inception in 2012, REG has made considerable progress on a number of projects.

REG has developed the One Network Road Classification (ONRC) system that covers all roads in New Zealand. The ONRC categorises all roads and sets out consistent levels of service for safety, accessibility, travel time predictability, amenity and value for money for each road category.

All road controlling authorities have applied the ONRC classifications and are expected to fully embed it into their planning by the end of 2017. They are currently assessing how well they are meeting the expected road standards and developing plans for addressing any variance.

Case studies


RATA - Efficient road maintenance

In the Waikato, the region’s mayors have set up RATA (Road Asset Technical Accord) to save money and work smarter. This agreement between Waikato’s councils enables greater co-operation in planning and delivery of road maintenance on the local council roads.

Combined Otago-Southland Regional Land Transport Committee – the power of one

Covering almost one-third of the South Island, the Otago and Southland regions face common transport challenges. These include having a large land area and road network, comparatively low populations in many areas, natural hazards impacting on transport networks and infrastructure upgrades being required to enable heavier freight vehicles to access key parts of the network.

Converting street lights to LED

A feature of this NLTP is the burgeoning interest from road controlling authorities in replacing inefficient road lighting with LED lighting. Urban areas, in particular, will benefit from lower electricity and maintenance costs.

Using levels of service to improve maintenance

The One Network Road Classification was developed by the Road Efficiency Group (REG) to provide consistent levels of service for each class of road.