Turns out motorists would rather not pay tolls

A viaduct on the new Manawatū – Tararua Highway. (Image: NZTA)

Fri, 03 Jan 2025

A proposal to toll a new $800-plus million highway in Manawatū attracted more than 12,000 submissions, 90% of which were against.Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced in December the Manawatū – Tararua Highway wouldn’t be tolled; at the same time he said the Government was moving forward with tolls for three other new highways: Penlink north of Auckland, Takitimu North Link near Tauranga and Ōtaki to north of Levin.Proactively released briefings from NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) show all four tolling proposals were dee...

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