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Roads of National Significance was a name given by the 5th National Party Government, to a programme to speed up road construction in New Zealand between 2009 and 2017.
RoNS were first announced on 20 March 2009 by Transport Minister, Steven Joyce, saying they were, "singled out as essential routes that require priority treatment". They were described as "routes that are critical to improving economic productivity and growth... The focus is on moving people and freight between and within these centres more safely and efficiently". Later in 2009, Prime Minister John Key, announced $11 billion in new State Highway investment over the coming decade, saying National wants to significantly improve our road network and help unclog New Zealand's growth arteries.
Between 2012 and 2015 petrol taxes and road user charges rose 9 cents a litre to pay for RoNS. The proportion of the transport budget for new and improved state highways rose from 23.4% in 2009/2010, to 61.8% in 2011/2012. Funding for other transport, such as repairs and footpaths, fell by 26.1%. In 2013 that led to the Auditor General reporting a risk that prioritising RoNS created pressures on other road maintenance. From 2015 to 2020 average seal age rose from 6.86 to 7.96 years and average remaining seal life dropped from 2.18 to 1.23 years.
The seven RoNS projects were: