Source: Radio New Zealand
The newest section of motorway between Auckland and Northland, which opened in 2023, connects Pūhoi to Warkworth. The next stage will continue to Te Hana, north of Wellsford. Supplied / NZTA Waka Kotahi
A return trip between Auckland and Whangārei could cost drivers $14.20 in tolls, if a proposal for the planned Northland Expressway goes ahead.
That means commuters travelling daily between Northland and the country’s biggest city would pay around $3400 a year in tolls.
The NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi is currently consulting on tolls for the planned Warkworth to Te Hana section of the Northland Corridor, which is to be built as a public-private partnership (PPP) under the government’s Roads of National Significance programme.
The proposal is for two electronic toll gates on the 26km stretch of expressway, the southern one charging $3 and the northern one $1.50.
The Northern Gateway motorway, from the North Shore to Pūhoi, already charges a toll of $2.60.
Added to the new tolls, that would make a total of $7.10 each way or $14.20 return between Auckland and the Northland border.
Trucks would pay $6 and $3 on the new expressway and $5.20 on the Northern Gateway, adding up to $14.20 each way or $28.40 return.
For Anna Giddens – who lives in Mangawhai but works four days a week at the University of Auckland, it could mean around $2600 a year in tolls – if she had to pass through all three electronic gates.
If she could avoid the northernmost toll gate she would still pay $2100 a year.
“Obviously it’s an added cost. It just seems like everything keeps going up, it would be added on top of everything else.”
Giddens said she would have to absorb the extra cost herself, but it would not be “a deal breaker” that would force her to quit her Auckland job.
“It’s not ideal, but I could cope with it. But I can imagine it could affect some people more.”
She said it would also affect businesses using the highway, which would have to pass the extra costs onto customers.
The Pūhoi viaduct opened in 2023, part of the newest section of motorway linking Auckland and Northland. Supplied / NZTA Waka Kotahi
Giddens questioned the equity of requiring Northlanders to pay tolls while other recently completed roads – such as the Waikato Expressway and Transmission Gully, both of which cost more than $2 billion – were toll-free.
“I understand that the cost of this is incredibly high. It’s probably the highest cost for a road construction project in this country ever, and I guess we don’t have the money. But it does seem disproportionate that the North is being tolled, compared to other parts of the country.”
Giddens said the answer for her would be to find work closer to home, but that was not easy in the current job market.
In any case, she did not have to worry about paying the extra tolls anytime soon – work on the first section of the expressway was due to start at the end of this year, and was expected to open around 2034.
A map showing the planned route of the Warkworth to Te Hana section of the Northland Corridor, with the location of the two electronic toll gates. Supplied / NZTA Waka Kotahi
The consultation document showed the new tolls could be levied for either 35 or 60 years.
Automobile Association senior policy analyst Sarah Geard said equity was one of the issues members raised most often about the tolling proposal – especially given Northland’s low median income.
Only two other roads were currently tolled in New Zealand, both in Tauranga.
“A point to make here is that in 2024 the government instructed NZTA that they do need to consider tolling on every new road … so we expect that will be the norm from this point.”
Geard said the AA was open to tolling if it meant new roads would be built sooner.
“And that means people who choose to use the road will benefit earlier than they otherwise would. I also note that under legislation, there must always be a feasible, untolled alternative route available to people who don’t want to use the toll roads, so that’s always an option,” she said.
“But we’re very mindful that tolls do mean extra cost to motorists, and we recognise there is already a toll road between Auckland and Whangārei.”
Geard said the AA had yet to decide its position on the Warkworth to Te Hana proposal.
The organisation was still working through information from NZTA to understand why the proposed toll was $4.50, why it was split into two tolls of differing amounts, and how the tolls would affect the number of vehicles using the new road.
New Zealand’s trucking industry also supported tolling if it sped up roading projects – but had reservations about the details of the Warkworth to Te Hana plan.
Paula Rogers, commercial transport specialist for the National Road Carriers (NRC), said about 1000 heavy trucks travelled between Auckland and Northland every day, transporting everything from food and fuel to logs and building materials.
She said the industry was pleased the new route would bypass Dome Valley, which was notorious for crashes and delays.
If tolling brought forward the project and its safety and efficiency benefits, that was a positive for all road users, Rogers said.
However, NRC had concerns about the methodology used to arrive at a toll of $9 for heavy vehicles.
Including the existing toll, that added up to $28.40 per return trip.
“Given the high frequency of freight movements along this corridor, these cumulative costs become significant for transport operators and are ultimately passed through to customers and the wider economy.”
Rogers said NRC wanted greater transparency around how NZTA had arrived at the proposed tolls, and whether the cumulative impact of multiple tolls on freight costs had been considered.
According to the NZTA’s consultation documents, the new Warkworth-Te Hana road would shave 7-10 minutes off travel times compared to the existing road.
It would also reduce the number and severity of crashes, especially in the Dome Valley, which was known for its “safety and resilience challenges”.
NZTA said tolling would allow the PPP to get started sooner, and free up money for other roading projects.
The reason for proposing separate toll points north and south of the Wayby Valley interchange was to make it fairer – motorists would pay according to how much of the new road they used – and to prevent congestion caused by large number of drivers diverting onto free local roads.
The new road would run west of and parallel to Dome Valley, before crossing the existing State Highway 1 and passing east of the notorious summer chokepoint at Wellsford.
It would rejoin the existing highway at Te Hana, just south of the Northland border and about 20km south of the Brynderwyn Hills.
The existing section of State Highway 1 would be reclassified as a local road and would be free to use.
Eventually two more sections of Northland Expressway would be built, from Te Hana over the Brynderwyns to Port Marsden Highway, and from Port Marsden Highway to Whangārei.
Each section was expected to have its own tolls.
The tolls being consulted on are based on 2025 prices, so could be adjusted for inflation.
NZTA documents show the Northern Gateway, which opened in 2009, is expected to be tolled until about 2045.
Public consultation on the Warkworth to Te Hana proposal runs until 15 April.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
