Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency has announced Transmission Gully, the troubled $1.25 billion road out of Wellington, is set to open to traffic by the end of the month.
The four-lane motorway has been bogged down with delays, construction defects, and budget blowouts.
After a "huge amount of work" on the project over the summer, Waka Kotahi says it's now confident the road has reached a stage where it is safe for public use.
It has instructed the contractor to open the road to traffic by the end of March.
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 delays have been due to National's botched Public Private Partnership we inherited. We are committed to learning the lessons from National's mistakes to ensure taxpayers aren't left with similar delays and messes like the one we have had to fix with this project.
"Ultimately what's important now is that commuters can look forward to using the road and the eased congestion they will experience as they enter and exit our capital city."
Transport Minister Michael Wood. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Wellington Mayor Andy Foster said it was welcome news for the region.
"This is especially as it comes on the heels of border restrictions lifting, the economy moving forward and the increasing confidence being felt across our communities.
"People have been waiting for a very long time for this, highly frustrated at seeing the road so close yet so far."
The opening has been made possible by the agreement to defer some of the 100 quality assurance tests previously needed to be signed off before the road could open. Requirements for other tests have also been reduced.
Waka Kotahi board chairman Sir Brian Roche said this was agreed during negotiations with the contracted parties.
"Waka Kotahi has been committed to finding a pragmatic solution that ensures we are doing everything we can to open a safe motorway, while meeting the public expectations for it to be open for use as soon as possible and to ensure we safeguard good use of public money."
Transmission Gully will open to traffic by the end of the month. Photo / Mark Tantrum
National's transport spokesperson Simeon Brown said it was good Waka Kotahi has finally been able to cut the red tape and negotiate an early opening.
"It would be helpful if NZTA would give us an exact date. Given the number of missed opening dates, people may be sceptical about the road opening by the end of March.
"But I'm hopeful that people will be driving on the road in a couple of weeks. National is proud to have started this project, which will be a game-changer for the region."
However, wider negotiations over the road and previous delays to getting it open are continuing.
Waka Kotahi transport services general manager Brett Gliddon said regardless of these negotiations continuing, the transport agency was confident the motorway was in a fit state to open.
"We have not been prepared to compromise on the road's safety, however all of the critical safety assurance tests have now been completed to a standard that gives us confidence the road will be a safe, reliable route for motorists between Wellington and the rest of the North Island."
Gliddon said now that quality assurance test requirements have been deferred, Waka Kotahi believed there was nothing substantial that could not be finished by the end of March preventing the road from opening.
"We have told Wellington Gateway Partnership [WGP] that we expect the road to be opened as soon as possible and that responsibility now sits with them."
A final pre-opening safety inspection will also need to be completed before the road can open.
Gliddon said some pavement and road surface tests were among the quality assurance tests which have not been met.
But he said expert advice was that the road was safe for use and there were benefits to allowing the road surface to bed in before winter.
CPB HEB will continue to address any road surface issues over the next year as the chip seal continues to bed in, Gliddon said.
Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand chief executive Nick Leggett said truck drivers were breathing a collective sigh of relief.
"Most people will forget the saga around the three-year delay and half a billion dollar budget blowout, but it will be important to understand exactly what the cause of this was, over the next few months, so the appropriate lessons can be learned.
