Transmission Gully update – 8 December 2021

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency’s latest update on Transmission Gully shows that the contractor, Wellington Gateway Partnership (WGP), and their sub-contractor, CPB HEB Joint Venture, still have a lot of work to do before the road can open.

This includes finishing construction and meeting the safety and quality tests and consent tasks. The tests are important, not just to meet contractual requirements, but so that there are no major issues that need to be repaired after the road has opened which could mean frustrating closures for motorists. 

Under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) contract, it is the responsibility of WGP and the builder, CPB HEB, to deliver a road that meets the safety, quality and environmental standards agreed in the contract, and expected by the public.

As stipulated in the PPP contract, there are 100 safety and quality assurance tests that must be met by the builder before the road can open. There are also 45 consent tasks that need to be complete to meet the requirements for road opening, which then need to be signed off by Greater Wellington Regional Council and/or the relevant territorial authorities.

As at 3 December 2021:

• 47 final test submissions have been received from the builder, of which 30 have been accepted by the Independent Reviewer as meeting the required specifications
• 38 partial submissions have been made and 15 tests are yet to be submitted
• 17 of the consent tasks have been completed
• Of the 28 remaining consent tasks, 26 are underway and have been progressed to varying degrees, and two are not yet started.

There has been some good progress on consent tasks, with many close to being complete, but work continues on the stormwater system which is a significant consent requirement for road opening.

Later this week, the builder’s team will be working at night to complete road resurfacing at Paekākāriki.

Early next week the team will be completing the median barriers at the northern end of the new motorway, which will require a change in road layout for southbound traffic just past the merge at Mackays Crossing.

This will be an extension of the single lane southbound before it is shifted across to continue to run alongside northbound traffic on what will be the Paekākāriki onramp to Transmission Gully. This will take place on Sunday night, so people travelling on Monday morning should be aware of the slight change in road layout.

Once the safety, quality and environmental standards are met and the road is open, the PPP contract will move into the service phase - the 25-year maintenance and operations period which will be managed by WGP and their maintenance and operations subcontractor, Ventia, after which it will be handed to Waka Kotahi at an agreed standard.

Waka Kotahi expects to be able to provide an update on road opening within the next week.