Transport Minister Simon Bridges has welcomed today’s announcement that the NZ Transport Agency will enter into preferred bidder negotiations with the Northern Express Group for the Puhoi to Warkworth motorway project north of Auckland.

The 18.5km Puhoi to Warkworth motorway will form the first section of the Puhoi to Wellsford motorway project, one of the Government’s Roads of National Significance identified as being as key to economic growth.

“Today’s news marks another step forward in the Government’s strategy of enabling economic growth in Northland and providing a safer, more reliable transport link between between Northland and the upper North Island freight triangle of Auckland, Waikato and Tauranga,” Mr Bridges says.

Mr Bridges says delivering the project using a public private partnership (PPP) model will allow the project to benefit from private sector innovation and funding sources, increasing certainty of delivery and driving better value for money.

“A PPP opens the door for private sector innovations that are not always achievable under traditional public sector procurement methods. The size and complexity of the project means it will benefit from innovative outcomes in design and construction that the private sector will bring.

“The Government will continue to consider PPPs for other large-scale and complex transport infrastructure projects which could potentially benefit from the innovation and value-for-money that can be achieved through a PPP approach.”

The first state highway in New Zealand being delivered through a PPP is the Transmission Gully motorway project in Wellington which is expected to open in 2020.

The PPP contract for the Puhoi to Warkworth project is expected to be awarded by late 2016.