The cost of Tauranga's short but pricey Baypark to Bayfair highway link has risen by another $30m to almost $300m.
The 1.7km stretch is shaping up as one of the most expensive and longest-running ever of highway projects.
The new forecast of $292m is up from $262m a year ago, almost three times the original 2015 estimate, and twice what it was put at in 2020.
Waka Kotahi says it's still on target to open late this year.
It's "seeing cost increases continue across all projects", it says.
The NZ Transport Agency regional manager of infrastructure delivery Jo Wilton says like the rest of New Zealand and other parts of the world, Covid has had long lasting consequences.
"Projects in the Bay of Plenty continue to be affected by the challenges resulting from the ongoing impacts of Covid-19, including a constrained labour market, supply chain issues and cost escalations.
"We are working closely with our suppliers and contractors to achieve greater efficiencies."
The original design failed to account for softer than expected ground conditions, especially a section of buried pumice 300m long that was impractical to dig out.
4 comments
Too little
Posted on 05-07-2023 15:48 | By R1Squid
Too late. The traffic volume has already exceeded that it was supposed to assist. The road surface is worse than that of the highway I traversed between Cairo and Alexandria in 1996.
On schedule?
Posted on 06-07-2023 13:59 | By morepork
Will there be any explanation as to why just over a mile of highway has taken 10 years and is STILL not done? And yet, it is "on schedule"... The Great Pyramid of Cheops took 20 years (estimates vary between 20,000 and 100,000 people to do it) and they had no modern machinery. Should we apply more people to road building?
Take time
Posted on 06-07-2023 18:25 | By Potofstu
And think about where this project has been going on in one of the most congested parts of the Bay of Plenty roading network, they have tried to build infrastructure and keep a already heavily congested area and tried not to add to the time taken to pass through. All you grumpy face people maybe think about what they are doing and how they are doing it
@potofstu
Posted on 07-07-2023 14:21 | By morepork
I would not argue that road building is a trivial exercise but, throughout history people have demonstrated they can do it better than we seem to be able to. I'd like to see more competence by the people designing and doing it, and better support for them where it is needed. BTW, my face is not pretty, but it's not generally grumpy either... :-)
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