Painful death of a legend: Gentle Annie

[junkmanjoe]

frog eyes in all mate..
go the mighty fords

[dino3310]

KTM, FORD - faark mate your one sick puppy

[junkmanjoe]

you and me mate,,we go far...........................

[cooneyr]

You are right, of course, but a heap of this road is being done by Transit (or whatever it is called today). Hastings District and HB regional councils are only funding a very small part of it....

Transit and LTNZ became NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) in July 2008.

To the best of my knowledge the Gentle Annie is not a state highway so the work will be being done by the district councils, regional councils don't "do" road works or fund them, they simply set the regional priorities through the Regional Land Transport Strategies (RLTS) in consultation with NZTA, the district councils and the public. Most, but not all, roading works carried out by district and city councils are funded roughly 50/50 from local rates and NZTA funding.

So the Gentle Annie will be being sealed (called seal extensions) by the district councils in line with the regional priorities for road work with finding assistance from NZTA.

NZTA is a big organisation now - it builds and maintains the State Highways, it fully funds or co funds (part funds is another way of saying it) almost all land transport activities (including road policing) and it manages access to the network through licences, regos and RUC etc.

I'm involved in this industry so please don't take this post as wanting to argue, rather an educational post on how a little bit of "the system" works.

Cheers R

[cowboyz]

ill put my stick in as a sportsbike rider. i think its fantastic the road is being sealed! Awesome scenery.. It will be good to be able to ride at a pace to miss it all.................

[Coldrider]

I rode me ZX over the annie to the cold kiwi and return last year, the newly sealed sections on the taihape side are bloody fast.

[junkmanjoe]

funny you guys should say this.. as i was riding along i did think it be a great road bike road now, and yes it is a very fast ride if you dont want to play the tourist...

JMJ

[Phreaky Phil]

Dawn & I cruised through from New Plymouth to Napier via Taihape. Didnt look as they had done all that much since we were through on the RRRR ride. We came over the Matawhero rd from Taihape and that was superb. A couple of the construction zones looked a bit rugged for buses and campers.
PS: I have a soft spot for Escorts. Had several when I was younger !