A fresh review of the troubled project has revived questions about the city’s faltering confidence in its own future, writes Catherine McGregor in today’s extract from The Bulletin.

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Hitting pause

Wellington’s Golden Mile project was put on hold last Thursday, with mayor Andrew Little arguing that ballooning costs left councillors with no choice but to pause it while they attempted to get a clear picture of the true price tag. The review – expected to take three to six months and cost up to $400,000 – was approved 12–4, with only the Green councillors opposing the delay.

The projected cost has now climbed from $139m to as much as $220m, and Little told RNZ Morning Report the council and ratepayers “simply cannot sustain another cost blowout”. He said the project’s goals remained sound but insisted the council must “cut the cloth to suit”. The pause places the project’s future in limbo and raises the risk of losing NZTA co-funding if scope changes trigger reassessment under the government’s stricter transport criteria.

How we got here

The Golden Mile has been subjected to repeated delays, redesigns and cost escalations since 2020, when it was costed at a mere $78m. Business owners objected strongly to the planned removal of car access, and the conservative councillors who backed them pushed for more studies and consultations. Over the past half-decade, as the upgrades kept being pushed back, the projected costs have continued to steeply rise.

So why not cancel the whole thing? Last year in The Spinoff Joel MacManus wrote a passionate argument for pushing forward, despite the setbacks. Opponents have an outdated view of who and what a central city is for, he wrote:

“People don’t have to go into the city to spend money any more. Increasingly, they don’t even have to go there to work. They go because they want to be there. If the allure of the city centre is strong enough, people will find a way to get there, whether it means taking an Uber, a bus or bike. They’ll even be willing to drive and park further away, or pay for private parking. Even crazier still, they could choose to live there.“

‘The only responsible option there is’

Fast forward to last week, and the 12-4 vote in favour of a pause. Deputy mayor Ben McNulty, who has previously championed the project, was one of the 12. In a social media post, he said the council could not absorb another major increase without threatening other commitments. Proceeding with the project would blow the budget by $60-$80m, with the chance that costs could balloon even further. “Yes it’s bloody frustrating but it’s the only responsible option there is.”

Back in The Spinoff this morning, MacManus says last week’s vote should set off alarm bells for the mayor’s supporters on the left. During his mayoral campaign, Little carefully distanced himself from the Greens and Tory Whanau. “Based on what we’ve seen so far, that wasn’t just a campaign strategy; it’s how Little intends to govern,” MacManus writes. With this decision, Little has aligned himself with the conservative councillors who have tried for years to halt the upgrade. “While they failed to get a conservative mayor elected, they instead found themselves with a Labour mayor who played right into their hands.”

25 metres of heaven

For now, Wellington’s only glimpse of the Golden Mile’s promised future is a single, lovingly paved 25-metre sliver of cycleway between Cambridge and Kent Terraces. In a tongue-in-cheek “review” for The Spinoff, Lyric Waiwiri-Smith depicts the traffic island as a miniature utopia, a place where the freshly laid stonework absorbs the scent of rain and where even a temporary crossing becomes a tantalising sign of progress. “One day, the cycleway may be completed, opening up the world of Courtenay Place to your human-powered vehicle. But for now, it is your 25m sliver of hope, with every metre a promise of better times ahead – if it ever gets done.”

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