The transport agency has exposed itself to financial claims in its rush to begin a cycleway project in the Hutt Valley.
Photo: RNZ
A series of poor planning, investigation and budgeting decisions outlined in Waka Kotahi documents have contributed to costs more than tripling on the Petone to Melling cycleway to more than $63 million.
In its Official Information Act response, the agency initially blanked out the bit about the claims, before releasing it after RNZ protested.
The initial report read: "There had been no access to the corridor to complete investigations prior to tendering, and incorrect assumptions made in the cost estimation were not sufficiently allowed for in the contingency, i.e. assumptions of minimal services and minimal contaminated land ($500k allowance in the contingency)."
The now-unredacted bit continued: "Furthermore, due to a strong desire to commence works from stakeholders and Government, the contract was awarded before engineering approvals were granted by KiwiRail, which has led to delays in the contractor constructing some sections of the pathway and subsequent delay-and-disruption claims from the contractor."
RNZ has asked for details of those claims and if they have been settled.
The project's lead contractor is Fulton Hogan.
The OIA documents show the delay in engineering approvals was a major factor in a $4.2m increase in costs the NZTA board was told about last November.
The contract price was renegotiated when the project was suspended in 2018 after the first budget blow-out - from $17m to $33m - but the size of the increase is blanked-out in the OIA.
The cycleway corridor is a 4m-wide strip squeezed between railway tracks and the four-lane State Highway 2.
The assumptions of few services were wrong: excavations have revealed a web of Kiwirail and telecommunication utilities that have complicated digging two large underpasses under the railway.
The $500,000 for contaminated land has turned into $4.5m spent having to dig up and dispose of lightly contaminated soil.
Administration cost rises on their own have added an extra $3.6m to the project.