Register of Network Standards and Guidelines

New reference documents or major changes to documents in the Register are ratified by a Ratification Group that includes the Convenor of the Research and Guidelines Steering Group and at least two representatives of the NZ Transport Agency National Planning Manager, National Investment Manager, Information Manager and HNO National Manager Professional Services.

New Reference Documents Out For Feedback

June 2017

Guidelines for equitable funding of pavement maintenance for low volume roads

These guidelines are designed to allow appropriate planning of investment by both road controlling authorities and primary sector investors, and provide all parties with greater certainty and consistency.  The guidelines provide a method for Councils to allocate to rating units the costs of pavement maintenance (including renewals) that is made necessary by the heavy vehicle traffic generated by land uses on those units.  The method allows an equitable allocation of costs between differing land uses.  Transparent formulae permit the allocation of costs to ratepayers of different primary industries in accordance with their level of traffic loading annually, the distance of the rating unit from a state highway and the intensity of land use.

See Consultation Draft.

December 2016

Safer Journeys for Motorcycling Guide updated 2nd edition

The guide provides Road Controlling Authorities (RCAs) and contractors with guidance on improving and maintaining roads for better motorcycling safety outcomes, and is intended to help RCAs in planning for their 2018-2021 Regional Land Transport Plans (RLTPs). The Transport Agency will use feedback to finalise the document and in its work to assist the National Land Transport Programme applications process for contractors and RCAs.

Updates in the second edition of the Guide include: an updated strategic context reflecting the Safer Journeys 3rd Action Plan 2016-2020; a section on urban motorcycling safety developed in collaboration with Auckland Transport, together with an Auckland case study; acknowledgement of the recently released Speed Management Guide; updates to crash statistics; and a new network assessment methodology which improves identification of high benefit opportunities and prioritisation based on risk.

The guide references maps recently released by ACC that align popular motorcycle routes with network risk, using a usage survey of motorcyclists and motorcycle crash data. The Transport Agency will work with RCAs to prioritise investment on roads that are identified as high-risk routes. An existing resource, Making Roads Motorcycle Friendly, will be attached as a supplement to the Guide.

Go to Guide

November 2015

The following document has been approved by the Ratification Group meeting as a Local Guideline:

  • State Highway Safe Network Management Activity Manual

The Manual seeks to provide advice and best practice guidance to network safety managers and road safety practitioners.  It references the Network Outcome Contract and supersedes the Transit NZ State Highway Safety Management System Manual Edition 4 (2007).

October 2015

The following new reference documents have been approved by the Ratification Group meeting for adoption as a Standard:

The Manual outlines the permitting requirements of heavy vehicles for use by permitting staff and the industry.

Previously approved

September 2015

P47 Specification for Environmental, Social and Cultural Management during Construction has been developed as a State Highway Guideline and will become a technical appendix to SM031.

The Register

The Register of network standards and guidelines is in MS-EXCEL 2003.  The spreadsheet format contains four worksheets:

  • About this Register
  • Register management plan
  • Full Register
  • Record of amendments

An Archive Status section is now included in the Register, too.

The Register and the associated Register Process Manual were developed by NZTA in November 2009 with support from the RCA Forum and the wider industry.

The Register provides, in one place, a definitive list of all relevant NZTA State Highway Network Operation and Investment policies, commonly adopted manuals and technical documents.  It also provides a simple, easy to access and to manipulate repository of reference documents for local road-controlling authorities.  Local road networks need to support the reference documents as providing current best practice.  They should be willing to adopt the standard solutions in the Register and, where necessary, vary those standard solutions to respond to local circumstances appropriately.

Where a local variation has been adopted and proven successful, details of the local variation should be provided to the approriate NZTA technical expert for noting as a local solution in the Register.