Treasury says ‘poor strategic thinking’ a major issue with big road projects

Summarised by Centrist

As road projects like the $20b Roads of National Significance (RONs) program balloon in price, poor business cases are leading to big delays and cost blowouts, according to the Transport Ministry and Treasury. 

Officials are claiming that the planning process for large-scale projects like New Zealand’s national highways has become “disconnected from reality.” 

The Treasury found that poor strategic thinking and weak data are at the root of the problem. 

Meanwhile, “investment decisions have become disconnected from the available revenue and market capacity,” according to the Ministry of Transport. Some business cases aren’t even completed before decisions are made.

Transport Minister Simeon Brown said that many business cases have become “costly and time-consuming” without improving project delivery. 

Read more over at RNZ