Frustration is mounting over the delay of a major Wellington motorway, with calls for an inquiry and for the Government to step in.
The Transmission Gully project had missed five deadlines since its original opening date in April 2020.
When complete, the 27km four-lane motorway would connect the Kapiti Coast to Wellington.
"I would really like [Transport] Minister Wood to stand up and say I'm taking this over,” Porirua Mayor Anita Baker said.
In the past two weeks, major repairs had to be done to resurface flawed chip sealing on the road.
Amalgamated Workers Union national secretary Maurice Davis said bad chipsealing could destabilise a road if water was allowed to permeate its surface.
“It just means that the road will start to destabilise potentially and there'll be a lot of maintenance work all redone, and it won't be cheap... it could potentially be the road that just keeps on giving.”
However, he said the 120 union members working on the road were starting to be laid off - an indication that it might be nearing completion.
The chair of the Porirua Chamber of Commerce, Hamish Mexted, said businesses were frustrated at the lack of a new revised opening date for the road.
“We want an inquiry just because we are so frustrated, we're so long into this.
“Every day that it is not open means we are on the roads more, so there's more costs, there’s more uncertainty,” he said.
The four-lane motorway originally began construction in 2014 and has now successfully passed 42 safety assurance tests, according to Waka Kotahi.
But, successfully passing 100 tests was required for the road to open.
The project is a public-private partnership and private builders would pay a fee for missed deadlines.
However, with negotiations continuing, Transport Minister Michael Wood said putting a finish date on the project could end up costing taxpayers hundreds of millions.
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