12 Oct 2023

Dunedin-Port Chalmers cycleway in $57m blowout

9:44 am on 12 October 2023
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(file image) Photo: 123rf

The tricky project to build the last half of the Dunedin to Port Chalmers cycleway has more than doubled its forecast costs to $57 million.

The path, which includes a boardwalk across a bay and a kilometre-long retaining wall, opened in August.

Waka Kotahi is still adding up the bill, which was originally put at $26m for the 5km stretch.

Just this year, another $9m had to be put in for unforeseen ground conditions, construction inflation and other costs.

The forecasted costs have stayed about steady at most of Waka Kotahi's 30 other big cycleway projects nationwide, a newly released OIA showed.

In addition, it has a host of smaller cycleway projects on the go, worth a combined $31m.

Of those 98 projects, 10 have been put on hold or cancelled, 16 completed, and 63 are underway, most of them - 55 - at pre-construction phase.

Waka Kotahi also contributes to council cycleway projects but cannot provide progress reports on those.

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