NLTP Bulletin

State Highway Investment Proposal release

29 September 2023

The State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) is now available.

Purpose and development of the SHIP
The SHIP is a key input for your Regional Land Transport Plans (RLTPs). It takes a national-level, whole-of-system view, describing the work needed in maintenance, operations and renewals, and the improvements needed to make the state highway network safer, more resilient and accessible, and protects routes for urban growth. It takes a 10-year view with a focus on the first three years.

Regional and national directions
The SHIP has been informed by our agreed contribution to regional plans and shared understanding of the land transport system. We have taken into consideration local aspirations and priorities as outlined in spatial plans, programme business cases and other local strategic documents. 

This SHIP responds to the recently released draft Government Policy Statement (GPS 2024). The six strategic priorities build on the previous GPS, including improving safety and freight connections, reducing the impact of travel on our environment and supporting mode shift. It also strengthens the focus on resilience, recognising the recent floods and cyclones and the need to enhance the resilience of our infrastructure. 

The new GPS strategic priority maintaining and operating the system and proposed increase in the state highway maintenance activity class allocation will enable Waka Kotahi to do more rehabilitation activities and restore the network within ten years.
Sustainable urban and regional development is also a new strategic priority, which emphasises the need for cities and towns, large and small, to have transport networks that are fit for the future, and that promote integrated land-use and transport planning. In response, this SHIP plans for and protects the strategic networks that will be needed as our cities and towns grow.

A large programme of work
The SHIP proposes a large programme of work for the next decade, recognising the scale of the Government’s ambition, the damage caused by the recent extreme weather events, the need to make roads safer, the current state of the network and the work required to return it to previous levels of service. 

This SHIP has a strong focus on maintenance and renewals and emphasises the ten-year pipeline of work, that will allow the sector to build capacity and capability for successful delivery. 

It also ensures we can deliver on work already underway, namely safety improvements and cyclone recovery and rebuild. 

The SHIP proposes the planning and route protection work for new capital investments on nationally strategic state highways and key rapid transit routes, in response to the GPS strategic investment package. The Government expects that these corridors will be given particular consideration during the development of the National Land Transport Programme (NLTP), given their alignment and potential impact on the wider Government priorities. 

The SHIP knowingly submits a larger than possible (both in capacity and funding) programme of works for consideration in the Regional Land Transport Plans. This allows regions to consider possible priorities and trade-offs along the highways instead of a single set of proposed activities, and allows Waka Kotahi flexibility to meet changing priorities or readiness of activities. Accordingly, the agreed programme of work can be expected to be refined and narrowed as more information is known through the NLTP development process.

Get in touch

If you have questions or comments on the SHIP please get in touch with your Director of Regional Relationships (DRR), Regional Manager for System Design, or your Regional System Design Advisor in your region.