Transmission Gully: New year, but still no opening date

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency hopes it will be able to provide an update in mid-February as to just when Transmission Gully will finally open.

Late last year Waka Kotahi conceded the new $1.25 billion motorway out of Wellington would not be open by Christmas.

This was put down to the builder running out of time to complete safety, quality assurance, and consent tasks for the road to open in time for the holidays.

The four-lane motorway is being built through a public-private partnership (PPP), the Wellington Gateway Partnership (WGP), with CPB Contractors and HEB Construction subcontracted to carry out the design and construction.

Waka Kotahi transport services general manager Brett Gliddon said in a statement today they were working with the road's contractor and subcontractors to support getting the new motorway open as quickly as possible.

"We are working hard to reach a pragmatic solution with the contractor and subcontractors to get the road safely and legally opened as soon as possible, balanced with protecting the long-term quality and reliability of the road."

Waka Kotahi will provide an update on the expected opening date as soon as a timeframe on completing the required work is established.

That update is likely to be in mid-February.

Waka Kotahi reported today there has been good progress on consent tasks, but there was still outstanding work on a fully functioning stormwater system capable of treating road run-off water to the required standard.

This must be operational for road opening.

As of January 17, there were 32 consent tasks complete and 10 outstanding tasks.

There are also 100 safety and quality assurance tests required under the PPP contract before the road can safely and legally open.

As of January 14, there were 52 final test submissions received from CPB HEB, of which 39 were accepted by the Independent Reviewer as meeting the required standards.

Meeting the contractually agreed safety and quality assurance tests is the responsibility of WGP and CPB HEB.

"This is how Waka Kotahi ensures we are getting what we are paying for on behalf of the public in terms of quality, safety and performance over the period of the contract," Waka Kotahi reported in an update today.

In December the Herald revealed Transmission Gully had been plagued by flawed chipseal and water seeping through the road's surface before it even opened.

The chipseal defect played a significant part in the road's opening being pushed back once again; originally expected to open in April 2020, the road is now expected to open this year.