I’m actually pro the city loop and half my post was in dismay and jest about the cost and time taken.
The issue and NZ’s big issue is our productivity is killing us. We’re so slow and inefficient at building infrastructure, we end up build half the amount of anyone else at twice the cost. That’s a huge drag on us as a country stopping us getting good stuff everyone else takes for granted. Crippling financially and in lost opportunity.
The loop is going to take 10 years to build, announced in 2013, fully funded in 2015 and still at least a year from being finished… before 6 months commissioning, etc
The $2.86b cost has almost doubled to $5.4b with more cost over runs to come.
I drive through our local Bayfair roadworks which is a couple of Bridges and a roundabout and it’s been going on since 2015 and isn’t finished yet and is double budget. The joke about NZ having more road cones than sheep isn’t so funny when it’s you realise it’s true