Rumours rife over Transmission Gully construction as negotiations drag

Wednesday, 20 May 2020

Machinery lined up to restart after the level 4 lockdown, at Transmission Gully.

It was meant to be the billion-dollar Christmas present for the Wellington region, but now it could arrive in the wrong December.

The NZ Transport Agency has refused to comment on suggestions within the civil construction industry that Transmission Gully is now expected to open in December 2021.

There's no word either on whether its builders want to exit the project.

The Transmission Gully motorway north of Wellington was due to open in late 2020.

Before the covid-19 pandemic, the road - mooted as a possibility a century ago - was on track for a November opening this year.

* New opening date for stalled Transmission Gully the million-dollar question

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Raising the tarps on Transmission Gully, post-lockdown.

The level 4 lockdown put paid to any chance of that - plunging the agency, the Gateway Partnership contracted to deliver the road, and the road builder CPB-HEB into further negotiations.

Transmission Gully roading works at Pauatahanui, in Porirua.

Rumours about the new December 2021 completion date come alongside concerns about whether the company building the road wants to leave the project, and questions over cost-saving measures.

The agency refused to comment on suggestions the builder CPB-HEB wants to exit the project. The agency would also not comment on details of the contract that might make an exit possible.

The southern exit into Porirua from Transmission Gully.

Earlier this year the agency settled claims made by CPB-HEB over unavoidable costs and delays, which saw it paid an additional $190 million. The opening deadline, already pushed back from April to May, was pushed back again to November 2020.

A source in the industry has suggested that the agency was asked in negotiations to pay for asphalt to be used on the four-lane road. The original quote was for chip seal on the majority of the route, but longer-lasting asphalt would save costs on the Gateway Partnership's contracted 25-year maintenance of the road.

Asphalt would likely cost the agency $40m to $60m if it were to cover the expense.

In a written response an agency spokeswoman once again said no comment would be made till the negotiations were completed.

The public-private partnership between Gateway and the agency was signed in July, 2014.

The Gateway Partnership would design, construct, finance, operate and maintain the road for 25 years. It contracted CPB-HEB, a joint venture, to build the road.

This month the agency told Stuff that funding and late penalties were part of post-covid-19 negotiations - as well as the new opening date - for the billion-dollar road.

Construction began on the 27 kilometre-long road in 2015, with April 2020 initially touted as the month traffic would finally flow onto four lanes connecting Linden in north Wellington to Paekākāriki on the Kāpiti Coast.

The public-private model for the project was crafted under a National government.

A HEB spokeswoman said the company was contractually prohibited from media comment, and referred questions to the agency.

Australian company CIMIC, of which CPB is a construction arm, declined to comment.