Challenging times for $700m RiverLink project

Friday, 15 September 2023

RiverLink’s $700m budget was set in 2021 and other large infrastructure projects in the region have undergone massive increases.

How it started: $700m. How it’s going: Already shaping to top the $1 billion mark.

That’s the state of play less a year before the start of work on RiverLink - a major infrastructure project described as “transformational” for central Lower Hutt.

As well as beefing up stop banks, it features an interchange at Melling, a relocated train station, and new vehicle and walking/cycling bridges across Te Awa Kairangi /Hutt River.

However, Hutt City mayor Campbell Barry told The Post that with RiverLink now at the design stage, “very challenging conversations” about the final scope would be needed.

RiverLink will transform Hutt City but mayor Campbell Barry is warning that its current budget is sure to come under serious pressure.

He had been told the cost would rise and expects $1.2b may now be a more realistic – a figure Waka Kotahi, the agency responsible for building the interchange, disputes.

Barry said it was a complex project and in the current inflationary climate, it was inevitable the available funding would come under pressure – but he remains determined to see it completed.

The $700m budget was set in 2021 and other large infrastructure projects in the region have undergone massive increases. In 2019, it was reported the Ngauranga-to-Petone cycleway and shared path would cost “between $76m and $94m”. When construction started earlier this year, it increased to $312m.

Last year, the cost for the Seaview to Eastbourne shared path and cycleway went from $30m to $80m.

Building an interchange at Melling is going to be hugely disruptive and there are question marks about how much it would eventually cost.

With Waka Kotahi, Greater Wellington Regional Council and the Hutt council all confirming their commitment to the project, it raises the question of where the extra money will be found. That question, however, remains unanswered.

Once construction on the big ticket items crank up next year, Barry acknowledged there would be a massive impact on parts of the city and on Upper Hutt commuters.

Construction would cause major disruptions for users of SH2, train commuters and local businesses, but he said it was a “once in a lifetime opportunity” to change the city forever.

RiverLink will safeguard the city from a catastrophic flood, reduce congestion on State Highway 2 and improve public transport.

“The key is to keep our eye on the big prize.”

Greater Wellington has begun demolishing houses in Melling as part of RiverLink.

Greater Wellington chairperson Daran Ponter said that on a project as large and complex as RiverLink, a cost increase was inevitable.

The regional council was responsible for the flood protection work and remained committed to completing it, he said. Work had already begun on one of the stopbanks and removing houses near Melling, where the river would be widened.

There had been no talk of rescoping to save money and with central Lower Hutt at risk of a catastrophic flood, the regional council wanted to get on with it as soon as possible.

Waka Kotahi also remains committed to the five-year project.

“There are no current indications the project's construction costs are likely to exceed $1b,” regional manager of systems and design Kesh Keshaboina said.

Specific details on the cost were “commercially sensitive” and Waka Kotahi could not comment further, he said.

Both Hutt City and Greater Wellington also cited commercial sensitivity in declining to answer questions around funding.

A report from March said Greater Wellington had committed $295m and Hutt City $129.7m. The report noted the cost of the project could increase due to inflation and cost escalation.