Source: Radio New Zealand
The Te Ara Tupua walking and cycling path between Ngauranga and Petone opened on Friday. RNZ / Mark Papalii
The Transport Agency says Wellington’s new cycleway atop a harbour wall is expected to come in under its $348 million budget.
About three quarters of the construction costs were for resilience work, and only a quarter for the path and bridge on top, it said.
However, all of NZTA’s funding for it – $261m – came out of its now shrinking ‘Walking and Cycling’ pot (or activity class).
The shared path Te Ara Tupua about 4km long between Petone and Ngauranga opened on Saturday, linking to other paths to Normandale and Eastbourne.
Cyclists have called it “fantastic” but also complained to RNZ at it being called a very expensive cycleway – as if the resilience work was “a happy coincidence”, said one.
NZTA said on Thursday: “We estimate that approximately 75 percent of the construction-related project costs are associated with resilience features.”
The project began in earnest in 2022 but was planned for years before that and was funded for $348.7m total but the agency now says once all contracts are settled it will likely be less than that.
“It is important that project funding is not confused with project costs,” it said.
“This is still to be finalised, but we expect final project costs to be lower than the amount of funding currently allocated.”
About 6700 interlocking concrete blocks and almost 3000 vertical seawall blocks help protect the adjacent Hutt Valley rail line and State Highway 2 from southerly storms and sea level rise.
The quarter spent on the shared path on top went on pavement, traffic services, landscaping and lighting, and the bridge over the rail line.
Transport Minister Chris Bishop cutting the ribbon to open the cycling path between Ngauranga and Petone. RNZ / Mark Papalii
A figure of $77m was for the revetments and seawalls “and not the wider resilience works”, said the agency.
An opinion writer in The Post noted that some critics had called it “the most expensive bike path in the world, if not the whole universe”.
Riders on the Te Ara Tupua cycling and walking path between Ngauranga and Petone, Monday 18 May 2026. RNZ / Phil Pennington
Other than NZTA Waka Kotahi, the Crown put in $80m, and Wellington city and regional councils $7m together.
The Transport Agency categorised Te Ara Tupua as a “walking and cycling” project.
Funding for such projects generally comes from the Walking and Cycling activity class in the National Land Transport Fund (NLTF), a class that has had its funding cut and altered in recent years: “Funding for the Walking and Cycling activity class for 2024-27 has reduced 40 percent from 2021-24 actual funding … In 2024-27 the activity class also now has to provide for footpath and cycle path maintenance and renewals ($63m) which were previously included in Local Road and State Highway maintenance,” said the 2023-24 annual review of NZTA.
The Government Policy Statement on land transport in 2024 introduced another shift around what pot paid for what.
“For example, if a project along a state highway corridor includes improvements to the existing road corridor, and a new shared path, then the improvements to the existing road corridor will be funded from the State Highway Improvements activity class and the shared path will be funded from the Walking and Cycling activity class.
“Funding for multi-modal improvements along a local road corridor should primarily be funded through the Walking and Cycling activity class.”
It was the only one of the 11 activity classes forecast to lose funding in the years after 2024-25.
Walking and Cycling had a funding range for 2024-25 of $135m – $230m, dropping to $70m – $110m in each of the subsequent five years.
This compares with highway pothole prevention at $420m – $700m and rising, local road pothole prevention $570m – $780m and rising, state highway improvements $1.2 billion – $1.95b and rising, and local road improvements $150m – $400m and rising.
At Te Ara Tupua, the builders faced extra challenges of not protecting kororā little penguins from getting run over, and staying clear of electrified overhead rail lines.
They created a ‘digital shield’ that NZTA said “worked like a force field”.
A laser scanner built a 3D digital twin of the project site and GPS-linked computers on the likes of excavators was linked to it.
If drivers got too close to overhead lines, tracks or trains their machine controls would lock.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/05/21/three-quarters-of-multi-million-dollar-wellington-cycleway-budget-for-resilience/