Up until that point, March 4, Waka Kotahi has been adamant all of the 100 contractually required safety and quality assurance tests must be completed before the road could open.
So why the change of heart? The non-updates say it all.
A week before the early March update only 46 of the safety and quality assurance tests had been accepted by an independent reviewer as meeting the required standards.
This was just one more test than the week prior to that, when just 45 tests had been accepted.
The week before that just 42 had been accepted. Remember, there are 100 of these tests in total.
The pace of getting these tests all signed off could only be described as glacial and alarmingly, made it look like it could well be another year before the road was fit to open.
Throughout these non-updates Waka Kotahi has made assurances a "pragmatic solution" was being worked on with the builder.
That solution was to defer 19 outstanding quality assurance tests originally required under the contract to be completed before the road's opening.
On top of this, Waka Kotahi also agreed to reduce the requirements for a further 30 tests.
And just like that, when the most recent update landed last week there were just 14 tests outstanding, 13 of which with reduced requirements.
This is the grand plan to get the road open. Waka Kotahi is confident none of the deferred tests will compromise immediate public safety, instead they relate to the long-term quality of the road.
Transmission Gully 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.
The 27km four-lane motorway has missed several opening deadlines, blown its budget, and become the butt of jokes in the region.
When the road didn't open in time for Christmas, people's minds turned to whether it could be open by the Easter holidays.
During a Transport and Infrastructure select committee in December, Waka Kotahi board chairman Brian Roche was asked whether the road would be open before Easter.
"It could be," Roche said.
With Easter now just around the corner, this holiday is the next obvious opening milestone people will be turning their minds to.
The deal Waka Kotahi has agreed on means that's no longer out of the question.
