National promises $800m for Canterbury’s Belfast to Pegasus Motorway and Woodend Bypass

National is promising $800 million in the next Budget to fund Canterbury’s Belfast to Pegasus Motorway and Woodend Bypass, with construction beginning next year if the party is re-elected.

National Party leader Christopher Luxon and Transport spokesman Chris Bishop made the commitment this morning.

In a statement, Bishop pointed to the congestion and safety concerns associated with the current routes.

“SH1 approaching Woodend already carries around 21,500 vehicles a day, around 9% of them freight, and that is expected to increase to around 28,000 vehicles a day by 2048.

“At peak times it can take up to 20 minutes to travel through the town, while heavy through-traffic makes it harder for locals to access shops, schools and other parts of the community.

“There is also a significant safety problem. Between 2014 and 2023 there were 280 crashes on SH1 through Woodend, including three fatalities and 25 serious injuries.”

He cited an estimate from the New Zealand Transport Agency that suggested the project would save motorists up to 10 minutes travel time, reduce traffic through Woodend from around 21,500 vehicles a day to 8000, and reduce deaths and serious injuries by 78%.

The upgrades would extend the Christchurch Northern Motorway around 11km north, from just south of the Waimakariri River to beyond Pegasus and Ravenswood.

Bishop said $800m would be devoted to the project in next year’s Budget if National was re-elected. He said construction would begin next year.

Speaking to reporters, Bishop acknowledged the upgrades’ investment envelope was between $800m and $1 billion but said he was comfortable allocating the $800m.

“We do have quite a degree of sort of certainty around it because the project’s just been consented, there’s been some early work, some pre-implementation work, that’s been done by the transport agency over the last year or so.

“Any overs can be topped up through the National Land Transport Fund, but we don’t expect there’ll be very much of that and of course, there may be some unders as well.”

In 2023, National promised the same project but priced it at $270m.

“That would have been based on the costings of the time,” Bishop argued.

“There’s obviously been a lot of construction cost inflation during the Covid years and throughout that period.

“We’re using the most up to-date information based on the NZTA investment case which was done in 2025 and has been signed off by the New Zealand Transport Agency board.”

Adam Pearse is the Deputy Political Editor and part of the NZ Herald’s Press Gallery team based at Parliament in Wellington. He has worked for NZME since 2018, reporting for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei and the Herald in Auckland.