Questions over $700m RiverLink linger as stopbank work begins

Monday, 19 February 2024

The alliance responsible for Lower Hutt’s $700 million RiverLink project is standing firm, despite significant question marks over funding and the commitment of one of its partners.

Greater Wellington is starting work this week to upgrade stopbanks in central Lower Hutt, despite concerns over the financial viability of the project. In January, a senior project manager described RiverLink as “not currently affordable” and said ways had to be found to reduce costs.

RiverLink includes new vehicle and walking/cycling bridges across Te Awa Kairangi /Hutt River, an interchange at Melling, a relocated Melling Station and upgraded flood defences.

The alliance managing it includes the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi, Hutt City, Greater Wellington and contractors AECOM and Fletcher Construction.

The Post has seen a letter from Minister of Local Government Simeon Brown to Greater Wellington chair Daran Ponter noting that Hutt City was struggling to meet its financial share.

“Given cost escalations for the Crown share of the project, we have recommended further value engineering to identify possible project savings which would assist the Hutt City Council to meet its funding share.”

With the budget expected to have blown out well beyond the $1 billion mark, the contractors running the project spent much of last year working on a design to fit the budget.

Last month, Minister of Infrastructure Chris Bishop acknowledged the project was being rescoped and needed a budget increase.

“Like all the projects, [RiverLink] will need to be sliced and diced.”

The Post understands that there was a briefing last week of Greater Wellington politicians, where there was frustration over the alliance model and the ongoing delays over agreement on a final design.

In a social media post earlier this year, the alliance said it was working hard “to confirm a price” and complete the final design

“All partners of Te Awa Kairangi - Delivering RiverLink remain committed to the project, and we can’t wait to start construction this year!”

NZTA acting programme director Matt Trlin said that continues to be the case.

“All partners remain committed … and we continue to work together to ensure the project can be delivered effectively and affordably.”

Greater Wellington is responsible for upgrading flood protection and Ponter had consistently said that with RiverLink beset by delays, flood protection was a priority and Greater Wellington intended to get on with it as soon as possible.

On Friday, Ponter confirmed there had been a briefing but refused to comment about what was said.

While Greater Wellington was still part of the alliance it wanted to see the flood control work done as quickly and as cost effectively as possible.

Last year, it began demolishing properties in Melling and it is now demolishing properties in the central city to make way for new stopbanks.

For the last couple of months, it had been doing work behind Mills St to prepare for new stopbanks.

Residents near Mills St last week received a newsletter outlining what would happen over the next few months.

“You’ll see crews out in this area setting up a site office, putting fencing around future construction areas, and recommencing gravel extraction needed to improve the stopbanks.”

Trlin confirmed the project is still at the design stage and more should be known by the end of March.

“This involves a detailed review of the consented design, construction method, and costing. The outcome of this phase is confirmation of the scope that can be delivered at a price that is affordable and represents good value for money.”

He said it was not unusual for large, complex projects to have parts of the project delivered early when it made sense to do so.

Hutt City Mayor Campbell Barry said he was “happy” to see the flood protection work begin as it was vital to the future of the city.

RiverLink had missed numerous deadlines over the last few years. Last April, The Post reported: “After more than a decade of planning, RiverLink has a preferred contractor and work is scheduled to start later this year.”

In January, Waka Kotahi confirmed the project was still in the design stage but the alliance would be making an announcement in March.

As of today, the design, final cost, start and completion dates remain unclear. In January 2020, Stuff announced government funding of $258m had been secured for the Melling Interchange, a key part of the RiverLink project, and it would be built by 2026.

Work on the Mills St stopbanks is scheduled to be finished by October.