National has announced if they are elected, four-lane highways from Whangārei to Tauranga will be built at a cost of $6 billion.
However, critics have hit back, claiming the data they have used for the cost estimate is “laughable at best”.
The four projects are:
- Whangārei to Port Marsden - $1.3b and to start in the next one to three years.
- Warkworth to Wellsford - $2.2b and to start in the next four to 10 years.
- Cambridge to Piarere - $720 million and to start in the next one to three years.
- Tauriko West State Highway 29 - $1.9b and to start in the next four to 10 years.
National told 1News it will not have to raise excise taxes and will fund it through the National Land Transport Fund and increased government investment.
It claims the roads will be safer and easier to drive on and this investment is necessary to strengthen the economy.
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Transport Minister David Parker told 1News the plan was “breathtakingly misleading”
“The costs are as woefully light, as is their explanation of how they will fund these roads – the cost will be many hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars more than they are admitting,” Parker said.
He described the data as old and “laughable at best.”
Official figures obtained by 1News demonstrate that these expense estimates are far too low. For example, National estimates the cost of Warkworth to Wellsford at 2.2b, but officials suggest it might cost up to 4b.
According to 1News, the Greens said this kind of money should be spent on public transportation.
Christopher Luxon said even electric vehicles require adequate roads.
Others, such as Transport New Zealand, told 1News they support the initiative, claiming more road investment makes them safer while also boosting the economy.