Canterbury extension and bypass could cost some up to $5 a day

Toll charges could be put in place for Canterbury's Belfast to Pegasus motorway extension and Woodend bypass. (File photo) Photo: 123RF

Canterbury's new Belfast to Pegasus motorway extension and Woodend bypass could cost some drivers up to $5 a day.

Consultation has opened on proposed toll charges for the extension and bypass, which was expected to cost around $1 billion.

The proposal would see two tolling points, each charging $1.25 per passing light vehicle and $2.50 for heavy vehicles.

NZTA said the tolls strike a balance between helping to pay for infrastructure and minimising the impact on local communities.

The roads of national significance project will see a four-lane motorway extension of the existing two-lane section of State Highway 1 and a bypass to reduce traffic through Woodend, which locals had campaigned on for years.

One toll point would be on the four-lane motorway between the Williams St interchange at Pineacres and the State Highway 71 Lineside Rd interchange, the other on the Woodend bypass section, between the Williams St interchange at Pineacres and Pegasus.

NZTA noted the prices being consulted on are in 2025 dollars, which meant they were unlikely to be the prices when the extension opened.

Spokesperson Rich Osborne said the agency considered six tolling options.

Analysis showed a single tolling point charging $2.50 for light vehicles would generate higher revenue than two tolling points each charging $1.25, but Osborne said a single tolling point would be more likely to divert traffic onto untolled local roads.

"The single tolling point options also raised issues of fairness, where residents of Woodend would either avoid paying a toll altogether, or paying the same toll as those using the entire length of the road," he said.

"The proposal we settled on of two tolling points, one on each side of the Pineacres interchange, provides a balance between raising revenue to pay for the roading and managing the diversion of traffic into local communities."

NZTA traffic modelling showed tolling could result in around half of the expected motorway users staying on the existing route or seeking other options.

If the proposal went ahead, Osborne said NZTA would work with the Waimakariri District Council and Tuahiwi, Kaiapoi and Woodend communities on ways to discourage additional traffic being diverted into those areas.

Work on the project - which was anticipated to cost between $800 million and $1 billion, around half of Canterbury's 2024 - 2027 $1.8b roading budget - was expected to start next year.

The new motorway was expected to reduce travel times by an average of about three minutes and up to 10 minutes during peak and holiday periods.

More than 20,000 vehicles pass through Woodend each day, around nine percent of which were heavy freight vehicles.

Consultation on the toll proposal closes on September 9.

A final tolling recommendation will go to the NZTA Board at the end of October, before going to the transport minister, with a final decision resting with cabinet on the advice of the minister.

The government's policy statement on land transport required NZTA to consider tolling for all new roads of national significance.

Last year, Transport Minister Simeon Brown said the government would support tolling where NZTA recommended it.

The Woodend Bypass would be a 9km extension to the Christchurch northern corridor, otherwise known as the Belfast to Pegasus Motorway.

NZTA confirmed the route would go from Pine Acres, north of Kaiapoi, to north of Pegasus and Ravenswood.

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