Funding increase for Halswell road extension

A contractor has been appointed for the Halswell Junction Road extension following a further budget increase of $7.25 million.

Christchurch City Councillors approved the extra funding at last Wednesday’s meeting to cover project escalations and increased KiwiRail costs. Fulton Hogan Limited have been secured as the main contractor.

The project will create an improved link from Halswell Junction Road at Foremans Road to Waterloo Road. This will improve safety and the freight network connections to Waterloo Business Park and to Pound Road.

It will cross over railway lines, so the Council has been working with KiwiRail on integrating the project with rail infrastructure.

A small section of the project has been completed as part of the South Express Major Cycleway on Waterloo Road in 2022. However this next stage will include the majority of project construction. This includes the new link road, new level crossing and connections to the existing network, as well as the removal of the existing rail crossing and turning the road into a cul-de-sac.

The KiwiRail costs have escalated by 3.97 million due to signals design costs, price of materials, cost of civils construction and extended programme impacting management costs.

The remaining additional $3.28 million will cover project escalations including additional professional services, increased utility prices and increased roading construction costs.

A risk remains of further increases in time and cost due to unconfirmed work on KiwiRail land. Council staff are working to reduce this risk.

The work will be funded by rephasing some other projects in the transport capital programme.

Work is expected to start mid-June with investigation works. Community drop-in sessions will be held next week. These sessions will provide further project information and an opportunity to meet the contractor. They are: 

• Wednesday 31 May @ 4:30pm
• Thursday 01 June @ 11:30am

Both to be held at the Hornby Panthers Rugby League Club.