Council fights as deadline to toll new Manawatu-Hawke's Bay highway looms

A lower North Island district council is not giving up its fight against a proposal to toll a new highway linking Manawatū and Tararua, as a key deadline looms.

The New Zealand Transport Agency Board on Friday will make recommendations about charging motorists using Te Ahu a Turanga, over the Ruahine Range's lower slopes, when it opens next year, as well as the planned new highway from Ōtaki to north of Levin.

Those recommendations go to the Ministry of Transport and transport minister Simeon Brown. Cabinet makes the final decisions.

The proposal to toll the long-awaited, 11.5 kilometre, four-lane highway between Manawatū and Tararua has attracted controversy.

The Tararua District Council has mounted a "stop the toll" campaign.

And district mayor Tracey Collis is continuing last-ditch efforts to lobby for the toll proposal to die.

The proposal was made public in August, almost four years after the road's construction began, and about a year until its expected opening date.

The new highway replaces the old slip-prone State Highway 3 through the Manawatū Gorge, which closed in 2017 due to rockfall.

Since then motorists travelling between the eastern and western lower North Island have been forced over windy and slow alternative routes, the Saddle Road and Pahīatua Track.

It's not expected the transport agency board recommendations from Friday will be made public immediately.

Brown said the ministry would provide him with a briefing on the tolling proposal "in due course" for his consideration.

"The final decision on the tolling of the Manawatū-Tararua Highway will be made by Cabinet."

He did not give a timeframe for this.

Submissions on the proposal closed in early October.

Packed public meetings in Tararua were held in opposition to the plan, and residents told RNZ about concerns tolling the road would add costs for businesses, school and university students, and people who had to travel to Palmerston North Hospital for healthcare unavailable in the Tararua district.

Collis had said district residents for years used the alternative routes thinking it would only be temporary, but now some motorists would continue taking them to avoid the proposed $4.30 fee per trip for cars and $8.60 for trucks.

Collis asked the transport agency for the public submission under the Official Information Act, but was refused under a section protecting advice to ministers.

RNZ asked the transport agency about the submissions too, such as how many were received and how many were in favour or against.

A spokesperson said the consultation provided communities a chance to give feedback.

"All the submissions and feedback collected in the public consultation phase have been summarised for the board and the minister of transport.

"These consultation summaries provide insights into the level of community support for the proposed tolling scheme, and are considered alongside technical reports."

The spokesperson said that information would be published after the final decision was made.

Collis was critical of this.

"It doesn't seem transparent. People are wanting to know what did other people say? Did people share our concerns?"

Collis did, however, receive information showing $16 million was spent on maintenance on the alternative routes in the past four years.

The transport agency has covered these costs during the closure of State Highway 3, but the roads would revert to council ownership when the new highway opens.

The maintenance costs would be higher than expected if more people used the alternatives to avoid a toll, and it was a cost the council's small ratepayer base couldn't afford, Collis said.

Although the council received a 73 percent subsidy from the transport agency for roading, it could still face an annual bill of $1m a year, based on the average of the past four years.

Every $380,000 the council spent added 1 percent to Tararua rates, Collis said.

If the transport agency subsidised maintenance costs it could also eat into the expected revenue from tolling the road of $193m over 35 years, about $5.5m a year.

The transport agency's been approached for comment on this.

An agency spokesperson said it would work with local authorities to ensure the alternative routes were handed back in the best possible condition, but Collis wasn't satisfied.

"There are significant safety concerns. I'm genuinely concerned that the Saddle Road will not hold up going forward. There's slumping here," she said.

Collis also raised concerned about traffic count figures relied on by the transport agency.

One of its criteria for tolling was that at least 10,000 vehicles a day would use the route and the old State Highway 3 carried about 7600 vehicles a day.

Transport agency figures show more than 10,000 use the alternative routes, while council counts came under that number.

Collis said the transport agency counts included construction traffic for the new highway and commuters, who didn't travel the length of the routes.

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