National's promising to make it rain to make some roads.
By rain, we mean cash, not water. And not just a wee shower, but a downpour over 10 years.
The party has unveiled a $26 billion Transport For The Future plan which resurrects Sir John Key's Roads of National Significance.
State Highway 1 south of Cambridge is one of the most notorious crash blackspots in the country.
Locals are all too familiar with tragic scenes, but National's promising to do something about it.
"Roads of National Significance," said National leader Christopher Luxon. "Yes we're bringing back the hugely successful programme started under the last National Government."
This time around, Luxon's supercharging it, unveiling National's version of the Space Race.
"You know John F Kennedy once said 'let's go to the moon' and people landed on the moon in 9.5 years. We have a habit here in NZ of spending 25 years talking about things and not actually getting things done."
So he's chosen to talk about turning 13 roads into four-lane highways over 10 years.
- Whangarei - Marsden Point
- Warkworth - Wellsford
- Bypass around Kumeu
- Auckland's East-West Link
- Mill Road in Manukau
- Hamilton's Southern Links
- Cambridge - Piarere
- Stage 2 of Tauranga North
- Four-laning Tauriko
- Grenada - Petone link
- Second tunnel underneath Mt Vic
- Nelson's Hope Bypass
- Canterbury's Woodend Bypass
Justin Tighe-Umbers represents thousands of truckies. He said National's plan will be a godsend for productivity.
"South Island roads are actually in good shape and the congestion impact are less," he said.
"Because the roading network is in such bad shape, we're losing millions of dollars every single day because of detours, road closures, and driver shortage."
But it won't come cheap, the package has a price tag of $26b.
"This is the most transparent, upfront costings you've ever seen from an Opposition party."
Not if you ask Transport Minister David Parker. He said there's a $2.8b pothole in just four of the projects he's looked at.
"They should be asked where the money is coming from," he said.
But Luxon said he "won't take any lecture from David Parker or this Government on our costings".
"We will open up access to new financing tools. It might well mean tolls, value capture, targeted rates. Things we can do in order to get that infrastructure built quicker. And also not put that burden on the taxpayer of New Zealand. We are open to everything."
Lloyd Burr Analysis
So did National undercook how much it would cost to build some of the roads?
The Government is certainly saying so, but National has fired back at Parker, saying the figures they've used actually came from his office.
They're right. The Cambridge - Piarere figure came from his office four weeks ago. But Parker said it was a figure from May 2021.
On Monday, Parker said the figure has changed from $721m to up to $2 billion.
