60 percent of bypass budget spent without a kilometre finished

A little over a year after beginning construction, New Zealand Transport Agency has spent more than 60 percent of its budget for a project in Taranaki without completing a single kilometre of road.

Waka Kotahi has revealed it has spent $172 million so far on the 6-kilometre Mt Messenger bypass Te Ara o Te Ata route on State Highway 3, which has a total price tag of $280m.

The Mt Messenger bypass aims to deliver improved safety and a more comfortable drive by avoiding the existing steep, narrow and windy route.

It includes two bridges of about 125m and 30m in length, and a 235m tunnel.

It is estimated it will save motorists between four and six minutes of drive time.

In a statement, the transport agency said roading construction was made up of multiple activities that at any one given time did not always add up to actual kilometres of road built.

"To date we have carried out enabling works, drainage, temporary and permanent earthworks, procurement, land acquisition, environmental and ecological work and regulatory compliance that has contributed to the spend to date."

Waka Kotahi has spent $7.5m on a detailed business case, $52m on pre-implementation costs and $5.6m on land acquisitions.

As of December, it had spent more than $106m on actual construction.

More than $2m had been paid for site security.

Opponents of the bypass route occupied the Mt Messenger summit for a month during the winter of 2022.

After police removed them, Waka Kotahi built a concrete block wall at the summit and stepped up security patrols at the project.

"It's imperative that the project's construction sites are kept safe and secure, in the interests of everyone working on the project and local communities," the agency said its statement.

It could not say whether it would need more money to complete the project.

"We are currently conducting a cost review which is expected to be completed in the first half of 2024. Any funding adjustment will then be submitted to the NZTA Board for approval together with any revised completion date."

The Poutama Charitable Trust opposes the bypass route and wants the existing road upgraded instead.

Trust member Marie Gibbs was pretty sure where the project budget was headed.

"NZTA have confirmed that they are due to announce another price level adjustment coming up this year and that's going to be significant.

"I'd say that would be $400 million to $500 million, but I think the end cost will be will be well over $1 billion unless they really see the writing on the wall and abandon what they've done."

Waka Kotahi is still embroiled in a Public Works Act process to secure land at Debbie and Tony Pascoe's farm on the northern side of the project site.

In its 2017 business case, the transport agency said it would obtain all the land it required before beginning construction.

Marie Gibbs said NZTA should not have begun work with the land purchase still in limbo.

"Definitely not, unless they are intending to build a cul-de-sac. Pascoe's land is a critical part of their project, and if they don't get it, there's no way they can construct their project."

She said that was a huge risk to take with public funds.

Waka Kotahi said its board supported beginning construction - which started in November 2022 - given the pressing need for a more resilient road.

In a statement, Transport Minister Simeon Brown said he was disappointed at the continued delays, legal challenges and escalating costs at Mt Messenger, a project first mooted by the previous National government 10 years ago.

State Highway 3 was an important link between the Waikato and Taranaki and the government was intent on seeing the project completed, Brown said.

He was seeking further briefings from NZTA about its cost and delivery timeframe, he said.