Regional Transport Committee 05 December 2017

Report No. 17-241 Information Only - No Decision Required

UPDATE ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE REGIONAL LAND TRANSPORT PLAN 2015-25

1. PURPOSE 1.1. The purpose of this item is to update the committee on implementation of the current Regional Land Transport Plan 2015-2025 (RLTP).

2. RECOMMENDATION That the Committee recommends that Council: a. receives the information contained in Report No. 17-241 and Annexes.

3. FINANCIAL IMPACT 3.1. There is no financial impact as a result of this report.

4. COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT 4.1. None required.

5. SIGNIFICANT BUSINESS RISK IMPACT 5.1. There is no significant risk to the business from this report.

6. BACKGROUND 6.1. The operative RLTP was recommended for adoption by the committee as its March 2015 meeting and subsequently adopted by the Regional Council at its April 2015 meeting.

7. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE OPERATIVE RLTP 7.1. The table below provides a brief summary of the progress to date for each project. Any updates that have been made to the table since the September Regional Transport Committee are shown in bold blue. 7.2. Further information on progress with programmes such as maintenance, operations and renewals, public transport, road safety promotion and minor improvements can be found within the Approved Organisation Quarterly Report, elsewhere in the agenda.

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Regional Transport Committee 05 December 2017

Project Name RLTP 3-Year Funding Project Status Priority Cost ($) Status

NZTA Whirokino Trestle Bridge 1 40,700,000 Included in Deferred pending Replacement NLTP - completion of the Probable Accessing Central business cases. PNCC Palmerston North 1 300,000 Included in Deferred pending Integrated Transport NLTP - completion of the Strategy Implementation Probable Accessing Central New Business Case Zealand business cases. PNCC City wide street-lighting 1 2,700,000 Included in Installation complete in upgrade to LED NLTP - first tranche, involving 6,027,000 Probable minor roads. Supply and installation on major roads has commenced with half under contract and second tender process for remainder now underway. HDC LED Lighting conversion 1 153,375 Included in Tokomaru, , NLTP - Waikawa Beach, Hokio Probable Beach, and Ohau have been completed. The Business Case to NZTA to accelerate the project has been approved and further LED units ordered. WDC Street lighting upgrade to 1 1,666,500 Included in Project commenced. LED technology NLTP - The first 2,500 LED Probable street lights will have been installed by 30 June 2017. As a consequence of NZTA’s increased funding assistance for this activity, Council will accelerate the LED street light roll-out in the 2017-18 period.

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Regional Transport Committee 05 December 2017

Project Name RLTP 3-Year Funding Project Status Priority Cost ($) Status

WDC Dublin Street Bridge – 1 100,000 Included in Study proposed for Strategy Study NLTP - 2017-18. Proposed Council is considering splitting this project into two parts. A detailed bridge inspection in 2016-17 followed by a scheme assessment in 2017-18. NZTA Whanganui/ 1 636,508 Included in Deferred Whangaehu Safety NLTP - Improvements Proposed

NZTA SH57-SH1 to Shannon 1 8,053,323 Included in Contract is awarded. Safety Improvements NLTP - Start-up meeting held Proposed on 22 November

NZTA Weight Right Facilities – 1 4,200,498 Included in Pre-implementation. Manawatu/Whanganui NLTP - Proposed

NZTA ‘Accessing Central New 1/2 70,000,000 Included in The two DBC’s are Zealand’ Business Case NLTP - underway Probable

NZTA Wellington RoNS – Otaki 2 46,549,663 Included in Working on next phase to Levin NLTP - of public engagement. Probable

NZTA Waiouru Stock Effluent 2 325,388 Included in Investigation phase Disposal facility NLTP - continuing. Land access Probable negotiations causing delay.

NZTA SH1 Waiouru to Foxton 2 272,864 Included in Implementation in 2017- Passing Improvements NLTP - 18. Proposed

PNCC Upgraded strategic 2 1,421,784 Included in Deferred for construction routes to HPMV standard NLTP - during 2018-19 Probable

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Regional Transport Committee 05 December 2017

Project Name RLTP 3-Year Funding Project Status Priority Cost ($) Status

PNCC MDC Kairanga 2 264,000 Included in Budget being revised; Bunnythorpe Road Jacks NLTP - Has been deferred Stream Bridge Probable while business case replacement proceeds for Accessing Central New Zealand. Likely construction period 2020-21.

NZTA Rangitikei Line Tremaine 2 1,000,000 Included in Completed. Ave Intersection NLTP Improvement

PNCC Cycle/Pedestrian Bridge 3 9,600,000 Included in Construction tender and path implementation NLTP - complete, Proposed announcement on successful tenderer imminent.

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Regional Transport Committee 05 December 2017

Project Name RLTP 3-Year Funding Project Status Priority Cost ($) Status

WDC Walking and Cycling 4 1,253,000 Included in Project commenced. NLTP - The City Bridge to the Proposed North Mole’s sections from the City Bridge Gilberd Street have been completed. The final section from Gilberd Street to the North Mole will commence in the new year and is expected to be completed by 30 June 2018. Stage 1 of Te Tuaiwi (along the rail corridor, from SH3 London St to Dublin St) will soon go out for tender. Stage 2 of Te Tuaiwi (from Whanganui Intermediate School (Dublin St) and along St. Hill St (to Ingestre St) has been completed. Stage 3 of Te Tuaiwi (from Ingestre Street to Taupo Quay) will commence in the new year and is expected to be completed by 30 June 2018. WDC Whanganui River 4 1,800,000 Included in This ‘Design and Cycleway (Upokongaro NLTP - Construct’ contract has 2,530,000 to Whanganui) Proposed been awarded to Emmett Civil Construction. The design phase is in progress. This project is currently programmed to be completed by February 2019. NZTA Whanganui River 4 810,000 Included in Completed. Cycleway (State NLTP Highway 4 River Road to Upokongaro)

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Regional Transport Committee 05 December 2017 8. ACCESSING CENTRAL NEW ZEALAND 8.1. The Governance Group met on 15 November 2017. The focus of the meeting was to receive updates on key projects being advanced within the region, with much of the discussion centred around the Manawatu Gorge Bypass. The group was informed of the business case work that the New Zealand Transport Agency was leading, and also of the work being undertaken by a Regional Technical Team, being a team made up of various officers from key agencies and operating on behalf of the Accelerate 25 Lead Team, to advance Option 4 as the preferred option. The Technical Team has been advancing the position that one of the key objectives of the project should be around connectedness and integration with the existing State Highway and local road network, to maximise travel time efficiency for key journeys and to maximise urban and industrial growth opportunities for Palmerston North, Feilding and the wider region. The team is of the view that this objective must be included in the project brief so that a true cost/benefit assessment can be taken of all projects, thereby ensuring the best “regional” 50-100 year solution is selected. 8.2. Updates were also provided on other key projects such as the Otaki to North of Levin (O2NL) project, and the Regional Freight Ring Road around Palmerston North. With respect to the O2NL project, there was much discussion around the importance of this project continuing, in light of its strategic connectedness benefits to the region, and to the Greater Wellington region. It was agreed that the new government must not lose sight of this and as such, a key action from the meeting was for all Mayors to sign a joint letter to the Minister of Transport, Hon. Phil Twyford, highlighting the importance of this project continuing through to construction. The letter would stress the importance of this project as it was identified as the second most important significant project in the region behind the Manawatu Gorge bypass. 8.3. There was also discussion on how Accessing Central New Zealand will form a key part of the Regional Land Transport Plan currently being reviewed (and discussed in a separate item of this agenda), in particular the realisation that that all projects being developed are done so in conjunction or in recognition of other work programmes so that key linkages between projects are provided for into the future. The group is firmly aligned on this point and will continue to work collaboratively to maximise investment potential for ACNZ work programmes and the region.

9. PASSENGER RAIL AND THE CAPITAL CONNECTION 9.1. There are two matters to update the committee on with respect to passenger rail and the Capital Connection. At the last meeting it was reported that the business case had been completed and submitted to then Minster of Transport Simon Bridges, seeking Crown funding of $6.2M over the next three years to retain the existing Capital Connection service, while a longer term 40 year solution for vastly improved passenger rail services for the lower is investigated. Since then and due to the change of government, the business case has been submitted to the new Minister of Transport, Hon. Phil Twyford, and to local MP, Hon. Iain Les-Galloway with the same messaging and with a request from the Chair to meet and discuss this vitally important issue. The business case has also been submitted to Ministry officials seeking crown funding for the $6.2M operational deficit over three years. A copy of the letter to the Minister and his reply are included in the Annexes to this Report. 9.2. The second matter to update the committee on is the ongoing involvement in the development of a Business Case to investigate the need for additional rolling stock (train carriages) to support the Wairarapa and Kapiti services. This work is being led by Greater Wellington Regional Council and Horizons Region Council has been invited to participate given the issue around the Capital Connection’s ongoing viability. It has been recognised that any new improvements or purchase of stock will create an opportunity to better integrate passenger rail connectedness between the two regions.

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Regional Transport Committee 05 December 2017 9.3. To date two Investment Logic Mapping workshops have been undertaken to identify the current problems and possible benefits with existing rail services. The key benefit that has been identified is the opportunity for increased regional connectedness both on the western and eastern sides of the Tararua Ranges. 9.4. Staff will continue to be involved in the development of this business case to ensure any opportunity afforded to our region is advanced and maximized. In the event the business case successfully identifies the need for new stock, the likely earliest purchase of any additional stock is 3-4 years away, hence the above position that the Crown continue funding the Capital Connection for another 3 years.

10. SIGNIFICANCE 10.1. This is not a significant decision according to the Council’s Policy on Significance and Engagement.

Phillip Hindrup Ged Shirley MANAGER TRANSPORT SERVICES GROUP MANAGER REGIONAL SERVICES & INFORMATION

ANNEXES A Letter to Hon. Phil Twyford B Response from Hon. Phil Twyford

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