16 Apr 2024

Costs of Pūhoi to Warkworth motorway not to be finalised until 2025

6:47 am on 16 April 2024
The Puhoi to Wakrworth motorway along the Northern Motorway has now opened to commuters as of 19 June, 2023.

The motorway is up and running, even though it has not been officially signed off. Photo: SUPPLIED / Waka Kotahi

The divvying up of costs for the billion-dollar Pūhoi to Warkworth motorway will not be finalised until next year.

The road opened last year, but the NZTA Waka Kotahi is still fighting with its builders, a Fletcher alliance with Spanish giant Acciona.

The transport agency says the binding and confidential disputes process will not finish until the second half of 2025.

"The parties [are] in the process of agreeing the inputs into the determination process," it said.

It has already paid tens of millions in costs, due mostly to Covid disruptions.

The motorway - built as a public-private partnership - is open, but has not been signed off.

The agency said 115 tests are being done to certify it is up to scratch, such as ensuring that the sloping sides meet a 100-year design life.

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