Hope bypass projected cost doubles to nearly $500m

Friday, 15 December 2023

The four-lane Hope bypass is to create a new route for traffic on SH6 by bypassing the stretch of state highway on Gladstone Rd, which will become a local road.

The SH6 Hope bypass’ projected cost has doubled to $496 million, months after it was pitched to the region with a pricetag of around half that sum.

Nelson mayor Nick Smith broached the “dramatic” movement of figures during the joint Nelson Tasman regional transport committee on Monday, highlighting the figure and asking to check if there hadn’t been a mistake.

Smith asked for a brief on what had caused the cost escalation, which NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) director of regional relationships Emma Speight agreed to provide.

In July, the National Party said the Hope project had an estimated cost of $250m and gave a four to 10-year timeframe to build it.

In response to questions from Stuff, NZTA regional manager of system design Rich Osborne said the previous $250m dollar cost estimate for the project was indicative only and based on 2021 figures in the Richmond Transport Programme Business Case.

Specific project costs were yet to be developed, but the project could have an investment range of between $400m and $700m, he said.

Bevan Woodward, from Bicycle Nelson Tasman Bays, told Stuff even that figure of $496m was likely to blow out again.

“It just shows you the incredible costs of trying to build your way out of congestion,” he said.

If money is a problem, Bike Hub Nelson's Bevan Woodward will give you a bicycle for free.

“If you keep on building bigger roads, you just encourage more people to drive in.”

Woodward said that money would be better used on things like park and ride facilities and priority lanes for buses. Getting people onto public transport, walking or cycling, would make for a “happier and healthier” population in a more liveable environment, he said.

In the committee’s documents, the bypass was red flagged as being in “poor alignment” with Regional Land Transport Plan (RLTP) priorities under environmental impact/emissions, and also in poor alignment with the Government’s draft General Policy Statement objectives of reduced emissions and sustainable urban and regional development.

Nevertheless, despite a doubling in projected cost, the new Government remains committed to its construction.

The four-lane Hope bypass will create a new route for traffic on SH6 by bypassing the stretch of state highway on Gladstone Rd, which will become a local road. The aim is to reduce congestion in Richmond, and allow for more housing growth in Hope, but critics counter more roads simply mean more vehicles.

Transport minister Simeon Brown, in response to questions from Stuff, said the Hope Bypass was a “key project” of the Government’s Transport for the Future programme.

Smith said the RLTP made no mention of the challenges of electric car infrastructure, and asked whether it was within its ambit.

The “revolution of electric cars” was “pivotal” in emissions reduction, in a region where 80% of journeys were done by vehicles, he said.

Tasman District Council strategic planning manager Dwayne Fletcher said there were some really well identified gaps in infrastructure in the South Island that made the provision of charging challenging, such as Springs Junction.

While there was nothing prohibiting councils from including it in the plan, the thinking to date was that it probably wasn’t the road controlling authorities' role, Fletcher said, however, it could be explored further.

Woodward said the nation’s number one selling vehicle was constantly a Ford Ranger. These and other large SUVs would keep “pouring into” the country and would be around for decades, he said.

“We haven’t got decades … so this idea that we’ll put charging stations in for the 1% of vehicles that are EVs, I think that’s wishful thinking.”

Also included in the draft document were Waimea Rd priority bus lanes, at a cost of $24m split between the Nelson City Council and NZTA, and the Millers Acre Bus Interchange, with a pricetag of $4m.

Three commercial vehicle regional safety centres, for Wakefield, Murchison and Hira were bumped up the list of priorities as a result of cost benefit analysis.

The Draft Regional Land Transport Plan and the Draft Regional Public Transport Plan 2024-34, in which the Hope bypass and Rocks Rd pathway were included, were approved for the councils to develop and seek community views.