October 2021 - January 2022 was where they had increased. The various rail projects in Auckland and Welling-
Transport Minister Michael Wood
ton along with a group of 13 smaller road projects throughout the regions all saw no to small increases in costs. Meanwhile the bigger roading projects saw in some cases massive budget blowouts, in some cases more than doubling. The fact that costs nearly doubled in just a year highlights there are serious issues in agencies like Waka Kotahi who provided the original estimates.
Yes, some cost escalation as projects go through more detailed design processes are understandable but projects doubling (or more) in such a short space of time suggests there are much bigger issues at play. These are also the same people responsible for other highway blowouts. It seems to happen so regularly and with no consequences that it’s hard to tell if it’s incompetence or deliberate – after all it’s much harder for a
politician to stop or delay a project that has been announced or is underway. Project changes One of the things that is notable from the changes is it’s clear the government are taking climate change more seriously. This is most notable in their comments surrounding Mill Road. Transport Minister Michael Wood says in light of the increased costs and climate commitments, it was im-
TRANSPORT
Changed for the better? Whangarei to Marsden In Northland the planned expressway between Whangarei and Marsden is likely to have seen similar cost escalation to the other projects. As such it has been replaced with safety upgrades to the road and funding for the 19km rail spur to the port at Marsden Point which Kiwirail say is the first significant new rail line since the 1950s. There’s also funding to upgrade the line between Whangarei and Otira to handle heavier trains. Kiwirail also say that when the port moved from Whangarei to Marsden Point rail freight movements in the region dropped from about 1 million tonnes a year to about 100,000 tonnes but a Ministry of Transport business case found these improvements could see that rise to about 2.2 million tonnes.
Mill Road/South Auckland Mill Rd is the most high-profile change and comes after the costs blew out from $1.354 million to about $3.5 billion – likely combined with pressure from advocates over its environmental impact. That environmental impact was even called out by Transport Minister Michael Wood. Mill Road will become a smaller scale project, with a focus on addressing safety issues. It is expected to involve an upgrade of two lanes instead of four between Flat Bush and Alfriston tying in the existing urban Redoubt Road dynamic lanes. There will also be targeted safety improvements between Alfriston and Papakura. Some suggest that a big factor behind the cost escalation for Mill Rd
is Auckland’s runaway land prices. It was always bizarre that we’d build both Mill Rd and an upgrade of the parallel SH1 at the same time. As part of the announcement, Stage 2 of the motorway widening from Drury to where Mill Rd would have joined in south of Quarry Rd (including a new interchange for Mill Rd) has been deferred. The overall package of works in South Auckland remains about the same total value but they say the savings “will allow investment in transport upgrades to release housing and local centres in Drury in a way that supports the Government’s decarbonisation goals“. Finally in South Auckland, the initial NZUP announcement included $247 million for two new of the three planned new trains stations between Papakura and Drury. They’re now going to build all three. Takitimu North Link Stage 2 Takitimu North Link Stage 1 is still going ahead, albeit with an increased cost. Stage 2 was a further 7km to Omokoroa and presumably experienced similar cost escalation to the other projects. Stage 2 has now been deferred with funding just for route protection. They also say it will now be required to be funded from the normal National Land Transport Programme and that it’s unlikely to occur within the next 10 years.
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