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National MP Nicola Willis got NZTA to confirm its business case into a second Mount Victoria tunnel has been delayed.
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency has confirmed its business case into a second Mount Victoria tunnel, a significant part of the problematic $6.4 billion Let’s Get Wellington Moving transport project, has been delayed. Responding to a question from Wellington National list MP Nicola Willis, the agency confirmed in a select committee on Thursday that the business case – which was due out in early 2021– had been more-complicated than expected. It was delayed and now due out “later this year”, the agency said while agency chairman Sir Brian Roche confirmed to the committee that the Let’s Get Wellington Moving (LGWM) programme currently had “no public credibility”.
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Options for constructing an extra Mt Victoria tunnel are due to be publicly released in April, despite an external review calling for the project to be halted. (File photo)
The lead author of a scathing review recommending Wellington’s $6.4 billion Let’s Get Wellington Moving transport programme be “reset” to avoid possible failure says it’s up to project managers whether they choose to take the advice. The project managers aren’t saying anything at all. Director Andrew Body has repeatedly refused to comment on the damning review since it was released last week. But those behind it are pushing ahead with the plans anyway, with Wellington Mayor Andy Foster saying options for three flagship projects – a mass public transport system, an extra Mt Victoria tunnel and a new road separating local and state highway traffic at the Basin Reserve – would be presented to the public by mid-April.