The series of severe earthquakes centred in North Canterbury and Marlborough were another frightening reminder of the seismic instability of our ‘shaky isles’. Once again the country is left to pick up the pieces following an event in which lives were lost, buildings damaged and destroyed, and communities isolated.
From a transport and freight point of view the November 14 earthquake is a stark reminder of the vulnerability of our land-based transport network. As I write this there are many sites affected on State Highways 1 and 7, on both sides of Kaikoura and inland from Waipara to the Hanmer Springs turnoff, and to Springs Junction. Cracking, fissures, damage to bridges and huge slips mean some stretches of road may not reopen for weeks, if not many months. There is also disruption on local roads vital to the region’s rural communities.
The upshot is that for the foreseeable future a major section of the coastal route from Picton to Christchurch will be out of action. Road freight will be forced on a much longer journey through Murchison and Springs Junction, with work needed from NZTA to prepare that route for the increase in heavy vehicles.
The main trunk rail line from Picton to Christchurch has also been severely affected, and in some places completely destroyed. An increase in coastal shipping will be necessary to perform some of the vital freight task, and it is probably fair to say that in these circumstances our coastal shipping capabilities are a bit under-cooked.
The prime minister, who visited the Kaikoura area the day after the earthquake, suggested that: “When people have a chance to reflect on the scale of it and the damage to the rail network, you can’t help but wonder whether the Transport Agency won’t say that some sort of realignment programme (is needed) … or at least question whether the road might be in the right place.”
He denied the entire road would have to be abandoned. “But it’s not just about taking the rubble away. It’s about future proofing the road to a certain degree,” Key said.
I hope that the prime minister’s comments will be the beginning of a broader national conversation about the resilience of our strategic transport network, and ways that we can improve it.
Of course, it must be acknowledged that as a long narrow mountainous country, seismically active and split in two by Cook Strait, no matter how good our infrastructure is it will be susceptible to natural disruptions.
However, that reality should not prevent us from investing where we can in making our transport network more resilient.
The bill for the current earthquake clean-up will fall with the Government, and is likely to come to several billion dollars. The Government is also currently spending billions of dollars on major roading projects around our three main cities, so there is plenty of investment currently committed.
However, if we are to address the long-term vulnerability issues of key strategic routes such as SH1 through Kaikoura, the Manawatu Gorge, Makarora to Haast and Wairoa to Gisborne, we may need to do more than just rely on the National Land Transport Fund. An increase in RUCs is one obvious means of raising the required revenue, however, that will force operators to increase freight rates and act as a brake on the economy.
Perhaps a greater use of public-private partnerships (PPPs) is worth considering?
A PPP is a long-term contract between the public sector and a private company, or consortium of companies, covering the design, construction, maintenance, and financing of an infrastructure asset. Full ownership of the public infrastructure remains with the public sector.
In the case of the Transmission Gully PPP north of Wellington, the contract is between the NZ Transport Agency and Wellington Gateway Partnership (WGP).
WGP is financing, designing, constructing, operating and maintaining the motorway over a 30-year period – including the five-year construction period and initial 25-year maintenance period. The Government will make regular payments to WGP, and at the end of the 25-year operations and maintenance phase WGP will hand the motorway over to the government to then run and maintain.
Investments in public sector infrastructure are critical to maintaining economic growth. The private sector has an obvious stake in this. Is it time that as an industry we sat down with other related sectors, including exporters and primary producers, and fully investigated the use of this partnership approach around upgrading and where necessary building key transport infrastructure?
I believe it is appropriate that we consider all options to make our critical transport infrastructure more resilient. Our industry and our nation’s prosperity depends on it.
