Screenshots of the three councillors walking out. Photo: Supplied / Wellington City Council
Correction: This story has been updated to clarify Waka Kotahi's position and the issue of funding.
Three Wellington City councillors have walked out of a meeting and refused to vote on a plan to downsize a controversial roadworks project.
The Regulatory Processes Committee on Thursday voted to drop the number of raised pedestrian crossings on Thorndon Quay from five to two after losing funding from Waka Kotahi.
Council officers' preferred option was to press on with the plan to build all five raised crossings and wear the more than $300,000 shortfall.
But committee chairperson Sarah Free floated an option to drop the number of crossings to balance safety with cost pressures.
During debate, councillor Ben McNulty warned against "picking and choosing" which to keep and which to remove, saying it was based on "reckons", not evidence.
When it came time to vote on Free's amendment, he walked out.
"I just feel fundamentally uncomfortable about playing role of traffic engineer here, so I'm going to leave the room," McNulty said.
Councillors Diane Calvert and Nureddin Abdurahman followed. Free's amendment passed.
Roadworks on Thorndon Quay. Photo: RNZ / Reece Baker
"I don't think you get paid to sulk and walk out of the room," Free said after the vote.
A prior amendment from Calvert to bump the decision to a September meeting and seek more information from Waka Kotahi and council officers had narrowly failed.
Waka Kotahi says crossings are safest option, can't pay for them - council staffer
The crossings were part of a $45m project designed to make it safer and easier for people to use public transport, walk and cycle between the northern suburbs and the city centre.
Works began late last year. But last month Transport Minister Simeon Brown changed the government's land transport policy - no longer funding raised crossings.
The council could have kept its initial funding for the Thorndon Quay crossings, but when it dropped the Hutt Road part of the project, it had to be reassessed, Waka Kotahi said.
"If the Wellington City Council (WCC) changes the scope or cost of such projects, it has to return to the board for re-approval to ensure the project is still a value-for-money investment and aligns with the Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS) 2024," Waka Kotahi systems design regional manager Kesh Keshaboina said.
The raised crossings no longer aligned - leaving the council $312,500 short.
The loss of funding, as well as "ongoing feedback from stakeholders" prompted the council to reconsider the project, meeting agenda documents said.
Aside from officers' preferred option to keep the crossings, others presented potential budget savings: $125,000 if council chose to remove one entire crossing at Gun City, and $625,000 if it chose to keep crossings with traffic signals, but not raise them (which would not meet Waka Kotahi's safety guidelines).
Despite not being able to fund the raised crossings, Waka Kotahi maintained they were the safest option, council's transport and infrastructure manager Brad Singh said.
"They're telling us it's the safest option, it's best practice, but that they won't fund it if we do it," Singh said.
Free said that left councillors in an "incredibly difficult position".
Waka Kotahi said it was working with the council "to understand the impacts of the changes being proposed".
The Thorndon Quay project has attracted significant criticism, with some business owners saying they were losing cash and were worried the works would be ripped up eventually to fix ageing pipes.
Last month, the Court of Appeal found Wellington City Council erred in its decision-making process to change car parks on Thorndon Quay. But it did not order the ongoing roadworks be halted, or the car park changes undone.
