'The least any govt should be doing' - Simon Bridges hits out at $1.4b road safety announcement

December 17, 2018

The Opposition leader also used his last appearance of the year on Breakfast to take a swing at the Auckland tram project.

The Government's announcement yesterday that it will spend $1.4 billion on making the nation's most dangerous roads safer isn't something that should be celebrated - it should be expected - Opposition leader Simon Bridges said today.

"I think it's business as usual, in truth," he told TVNZ 1's Breakfast. "You can package these things up. We did. It's a continuation of the sort of things, frankly, any good government should do.

The $1.4 billion allocation, to be spread out over three years, is intended to make 870 kilometres of our busiest roads safer, Transport Minister Phil Twyford and Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter said yesterday as they announced the Safe Network Programme.

The improvements will include median and side barriers as well as shoulder widening and rumble strips, with about half going on to highways and the other half going on local roads.

The first of the projects is expected to being next year and is already in development.

The Government aims to prevent 160 deaths and serious injuries each year on Kiwi roads.

While all that is well and good, it isn't enough, Mr Bridges argued today.

"If you go literally all over New Zealand, from Whangārei to Northport all the way down the South Island, four-lane highways have been canned," he said. "And in the meantime we wait for a slow tram in Auckland. So there's $5 billion sucked out to go into that tram from these highway projects.

"And this sort of safety work is the least any government should be doing."

While Mr Bridges said he supports public transport in Auckland, he used his last appearance of the year on Breakfast to hit out repeatedly at the tram project.

"The reality and truth is most of us, whether it's Ubering or in our own vehicles, get around on the roads and so significant roading improvements are important," he explained. "This Government doesn't have a plan to do that."

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