A day before it was due to open, it’s still not known when commuters will be able to use Wellington’s long-awaited Transmission Gully highway.
The 27-kilometre-long road which connects the Kāpiti coast to Pāuatahanui was first mooted in 1919. Work began in 2015 and the road was due to open in April 2020. Last year’s covid-19 lockdown and contractual negotiations pushed the deadline out to September 27 th 2021, but Waka Kotahi says the most recent nationwide lockdown has pushed things back again.
“WGP and CPB HEB have advised Waka Kotahi that the recent Covid-19 lockdown, Alert Level 3 restrictions, and supply chain constraints as a result of the extended lockdown in Auckland have impacted on their ability to meet the contractually agreed opening date” Brett Gliddon, Waka Kotahi general manager transport services, said.
But not everyone buys that argument.
“Look, I don’t believe that at all,” Greater Wellington Regional Council chair Daran Ponter said.
“We had formed a view from the information we were receiving…that the road builder was up against it well before lockdown.”
No date has been set for when the road will actually open. Ponter says there are still dozens of resource consent conditions that need to be worked through.
“Things like tree planting, we're getting to the end of tree planting season for example, that's a bit of a worry. Have they done all the stormwater work they need to if we get a big event on the road?”
The road builders were supposed to be being fined $250,000 for every day Transmission Gully remains closed but Waka Kotahi's refused to confirm whether that'll be enforced, saying it’s in a “commercial negotiation due to the impacts of Covid-19 on the Transmission Gully project”.
“[We] will not be commenting on these negotiations while they are occurring, we can confirm that work has resumed onsite and the builder is working hard to complete the project as fast as possible in the current Covid-19 restricted environment” a spokesperson told 1 News.
Whitby Residents Association chair Chris Darnell says he’s hoping the road will be finished by Christmas, but he’s not holding his breath.
“We're desperately looking forward to being part of this new network and the delays have been annoying…We'd love to be kept in touch with what’s happening. The silence has been infuriating.”
The project was supposed to cost $850 million but has now exceeded a budget of $1.25 billion. Despite the delays and cost overrun long-time Transmission Gully advocate Peter Dunne says the project’s been a success overall.
“It gives Wellington an alternative access and egress in the event of a major disaster, secondly with that growth that’s taking place up on Kāpiti coast and beyond it will facilitate traffic and get rid of bottlenecks.”
“It'll be a great day for Wellington when it happens. I think people will finally see dreams can turn into realities.”
Ponter says authorities need to make sure delays and cost overruns don’t become “the new normal” for large-scale infrastructure projects.
“I do worry we've come to accept that delays are inevitable and cost overruns are inevitable and we dip into taxpayer and ratepayer pockets to keep these things running.”
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