End in sight for troubled Gully Road
Highway to open by end of this month says Waka Kotahi
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency has announced Transmission Gully is set to open to traffic by the end of the month. The troubled $1.25 billion four-lane motorway out of Wellington has been bogged down with delays, construction defects, and budget blowouts, however after a “huge amount of work” on the project over the summer, Waka Kotahi says it is now confident the road has reached a stage where it is safe for public use.
It has instructed the contractor to open the road to traffic by the end of March.
Transmission Gully is being built through a public-private partnership (PPP), the Wellington Gateway Partnership (WGP), with CPB Contractors and HEB Construction subcontracted to carry out design and construction.
Under the agreement, WGP is responsible for determining when the road can be opened.
Transport Minister Michael Wood said the Government had sent a clear direction for Transmission Gully to be opened as soon as possible.
“The delays have been due to National’s botched Public Private Partnership we inherited. We are committed to learning the lessons from National’s mistakes to ensure taxpayers aren’t left with similar delays and messes like the one we have had to fix with this project.
“Ultimately what’s important now is that commuters can look forward to using the road and the eased congestion they will experience as they enter and exit our capital city.”
Kāpiti mayor K Gurunathan said confirmation the road would be open by the end of the month was wonderful news for Kāpiti, which is growing in population and increasingly in need of more resilient transport links.
“This isn’t the first time we’ve got excited about the prospect of the road opening, and it feels a bit like deja vu, but I am confident this is the real deal and something we can be genuinely excited about.
“The planning, construction and protracted sign-off process needed to get the road open has tested everyone’s patience, especially those of us in Kāpiti.
“We are pleased the agencies involved have managed to balance the need to achieve high standards with getting the road open.
“It really can’t come soon enough with more and more people calling Kāpiti home and a series of accidents and weather events causing major disruption through the region recently.”
The council’s transport portfolioholder, James Cootes, said apart from increased resilience Transmission Gully would bring an economic boost for Kāpiti.
“It’s going to make it faster, easier, safer and cheaper to get people and goods in and out of Kāpiti.
“Growth is bringing opportunities for new and different businesses and initiatives, something we are seeing across the district. Transmission Gully is only going to add to the attractiveness of Kāpiti as a place to live, work and play. We look forward to seeing it finally open and reaping the much-anticipated rewards.”
The opening has been made possible by the agreement to defer some of the 100 quality assurance tests previously needed to be signed off before the road could open, with requirements for other tests also reduced.
Waka Kotahi board chairman Sir Brian Roche said this was agreed during negotiations with the contracted parties.
“Waka Kotahi has been committed to finding a pragmatic solution that ensures we are doing everything we can to open a safe motorway, while meeting the public expectations for it to be open for use as soon as possible and to ensure we safeguard good use of public money.”
Waka Kotahi transport services general manager Brett Gliddon said regardless of these negotiations continuing, the transport agency was confident the motorway was in a fit state to open.
“We have not been prepared to compromise on the road’s safety, however all of the critical safety assurance tests have now been completed to a standard that gives us confidence the road will be a safe, reliable route for motorists between Wellington and the rest of the North Island.”