Oh gully, will we get over you?

Agencies and companies behind Transmission Gully are refusing to discuss repeated delays in opening the $1.25 billion highway, which had been blamed on stalled resource consent applications and now ‘‘many outstanding construction issues’’.

There is still no opening date for the long-overdue roadway, with Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency saying last week it will ‘‘likely’’ provide a new update in ‘‘mid-February’’.

These delays and the poor management had ‘‘tarnished’’ a remarkable piece of engineering, said Dylan Thomsen, of the Automobile Association.

Transmission Gully was probably one of New Zealand’s most complex road projects, but Thomsen doubted it would be considered successful.

‘‘There’s a lot of good accomplishments that will have been achieved in this project, but it ends up getting overshadowed by things that haven’t gone right,’’ he said.

Last week, Stuff asked Waka Kotahi for more information about the delays.

Questions included: What progress was made since Christmas? When can commuters expect the road to be open (or why can’t you give a date yet)? What are the issues around consenting road surfacing, and other causes of delays?

And does Waka Kotahi, as a public agency, not think the taxpayers of New Zealand deserve to know what is happening with this $1.25b project?

Waka Kotahi and Wellington Gateway Partnership, the private group of financiers and contractors building the road, repeatedly declined to discuss the delays beyond the limited information contained in Waka Kotahi’s press release.

Andrew Knackstedt, the national media manager at Waka Kotahi, declined to allow a reporter to talk to Brett Gliddon, Waka Kotahi’s general

manager of transport services, in whose name last week’s statement was issued.

After Stuff complained about the lack of information, Knackstedt sent another statement in Gliddon’s name.

‘‘While we understand that people are hungry for more information and want to know when the road will be open, this is dependent on the outcome of the commercial negotiations which we are currently engaged in,’’ it said.

‘‘We will provide more information, including an expected opening date, as soon as those discussions have concluded and we have a clear way forward.’’

It added that Waka Kotahi was ‘‘extremely disappointed’’ the road was not yet open and ‘‘frustrated by the delays’’.

Sergio Meijia, the chief executive of Wellington Gateway Partnership, also refused to discuss the delays.

‘‘WGP will not be making any comment until an agreement is reached with the project parties about the process of road opening,’’ he wrote.

Transport Minister Michael Wood did not respond to a request for comment by the deadline.

Transmission Gully has missed five opening dates over the past two years, in April and May and November 2020, then September and December last year.

The consensus among those involved in the project seems to be that Easter could be a target date.

It is a far cry from the talk of a pre-Christmas opening, when many Wellingtonians were hoping to take the new motorway on their way to holiday up north.

National Party transport spokesman Simeon Brown said Waka Kotahi needed to be more transparent about the road’s path forward.

‘‘At this stage, it just looks like they’re buying time,’’ he said.

‘‘The main thing Wellingtonians and New Zealanders want is an actual timeline and date that is being worked towards to get it open.’’

The road’s opening is determined when Wellington Gateway Partnership and the roadbuilding company CPB HEB can meet the contractually agreed safety and quality assurance tests.

Wellington mayor Andy Foster said the city was frustrated at the delays.

‘‘I think we all share the same frustration that TG is so obviously so nearly ready and everybody wants to see the project finished,’’ he said.

The agencies were doing their best, Foster said.

‘‘They’ve told me they’re working really hard to resolve