NSW: Major NSW road projects over $1b over budget

AAP General News (Australia)
12-09-2008
NSW: Major NSW road projects over $1b over budget

SYDNEY, Dec 9 AAP - Nine major NSW road projects are more than $1 billion over budget
in total, and many are also overdue, a NSW government audit has revealed.

Released on Tuesday, the NSW Auditor-General's Financial Audits Report on the Roads
and Traffic Authority (RTA) found estimated expenditure on nine major state road projects
had increased by 50 per cent, while just over half were completed on time.

Initial project budgets across the nine developments totalled $2.1 billion, however
the forecast or actual final cost was $3.17 billion - a difference of $1.05 billion.

The Brunswick Heads to Yelgun Pacific Highway upgrade was initially expected to be
completed by 2006 at a cost of $70 million.

But the upgrade was not finished until July 2007, with costs blowing out by $186 million.

The Bonville Bypass project on the same highway was five years late and cost an extra
$108 million.

Of the five projects still on track to meet their original completion dates, all are
already over budget.

"The (RTA) advised that the variations between initial budget and forecast final costs
were largely due to project scope changes and increased contract pricing," the report
states.

RTA chief executive Les Wielinga said the nine projects were only a handful of the
hundreds the RTA had delivered.

He denied they were $1 billion over budget.

"Initial estimates for the projects are based on initial concepts," he said.

"Some of those initial concept estimates were completed nine and 10 years before the
projects were built.

"A few are running behind time and a few are running over budget and that always happens
in a big program."

However, Opposition Leader Barry O'Farrell said the cost and time blow-outs were just
another example of Labor government mismanagement.

"The one certainty over 13 years under Labor is that the announced cost is never the
end cost," he told reporters.

"Taxpayers have to foot the bill for infrastructure that doesn't deliver what it's meant to."

AAP bsb/hn/de

KEYWORD: ROADS NSW

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