Dear Wellington City Council,

According to your page https://www.transportprojects.org.nz/cur... Wakely Track (length ~ 1500m) has now been closed for construction for over half a year. It's been almost two years since this was approved for the first time.

Please supply all of these since 1 January 2017 for Wakely Track:
* meetings including minutes and participants -- for any WCC people below senior level feel free to list a senior person who they report to instead.
* plans
* tenders
* quotes
* contracts
* communication
* phone calls (numbers, participants, date, time, duration, documentation)
* work progress reports
* a calendar with all business days marked as either:
** status unknown
** work not started
** work being done
** process related waiting (e.g. for concrete to cure)
** waiting for contractors to return

For background, rumour has it that since September 2017
* WCC went back on its decision to pave Wakely
* The electricity company which runs the power lines along it graded the track, according to a worker on site
* WCC decided to gravel the track

As these are no more than rumours, can you please confirm or deny each of these?

How was the decision made at the time to leave the track as is?

How was the decision made to gravel the track, rather than paving it, or leaving it?

Who are the contractors working on the track this year? How was each company chosen?

Is any signage or other communication planned to inform people of their new transport choice?
If so, what in detail?
If not, why not?

What is the goal under which WCC is doing this upgrade?
How was the goal determined?

Ngā mihi
Aurélien de la Schlucht

Kia ora Wellington City Council,

Just a small number of things I forgot. Thanks.

What was the projected construction cost for the gravel option?
What's the projected annual maintenance cost for the gravel option?
What was the initially projected construction time for the gravel option?
Are you expecting that the projected costs will be the actual cost? If not, why not?

What was the projected construction cost for the tar seal option?
What's the projected annual maintenance cost for the tar seal option?
What was the projected construction time for the tar seal option?

Please include sources, reasons, meeting minutes etc for all of the above.

At some point the signs at the track ends said it'd be done in May 2019. Then they were stickered over, replacing May with July. How did this come about? Again please includes reasons, communication, etc pp.

What is the current projected opening day?
How has this been determined?
What risks exist for this? Please list with probability and impact.

Is an opening celebration planned? If so, how are you going to advertise it?

Ngā mihi
Aurélien de la Schlucht

Related request: https://fyi.org.nz/request/11035-wakely-...

Ngā mihi
Aurélien de la Schlucht

Kia ora Asha Harry,

One point of view may be that if one imagined a project manager whose job it is to look after safe travel in all modes, after this track, and after the work being done to it, then these questions here would be exactly the ones that most people would expect them to ask.

Currently, at least some of these decriptions apply, either as simple facts, or as hearsay, or as a possible interpretation of the former:
* The work takes a very long time
* The work is late, even by WCC's updated end date of July 2019
* The gravel solution may not be fit for purpose
* No work has been done at all on this track this month, August 2019
* The goal of the work and the problem it starts to solve may not be well understood

As such I am here making an attempt to act as a kaitiaki for Wakely Track.

In my view it'll be advantageous that the public has all the facts around this track available to them.
It'll also be good to have everything available before this year's local body elections.
The due date of 6 September, and publication of documents here, serves these purposes very well.

Ngā mihi
Aurélien de la Schlucht

Kia ora WCC,

Having received a bit of guidance from the Office of the Ombudsman here's a follow up with further questions as your initial response is insufficient.

The QQ numbers are follow up question numbers so we know what we’re talking about.

=== 16 & 17 Goals ===
WCC may be under the impression that pointing to a couple of long winded documents is enough of a reason.
The specific reason to make Wakely accessible, and quickly is that it is an alternative to these two options:
* In Newlands Road, WCC continues to maintain an environment that by its design encourages “people” to harass and intimidate their “friends” and ‘neighbours’
* In Ngauranga Gorge, NZTA continues to maintain an environment that by its design encourages “people” to pollute the air that their “friends” and “neighbours” breathe while climbing the hill
These are of course reasons that are only experienced when using this infrastructure, which I haven’t ever seen WCC staff or councillors do.

So, (QQ1) what is the precise reason for WCC to do this work?

=== 6, 15, 26 and 29 Signage ===
WCC may be under the impression that the long duration of the closure and the “under construction” state is close to permanent.
The question was regarding permanent signage, and directions, to guide people. That’d be to guide people from Newlands Rd to Hutt Rd and back, and more.
Like
* this one for all traffic https://goo.gl/maps/xBV6edBkkB8XCHud7
* this one for bicycles https://goo.gl/maps/XdBCCcQJKXezLnRG8
(QQ2) Is WCC planning on any permanent signage?
(QQ3) If so, what exact signs are planned?
(QQ4) If not, what is the exact and precise reason for not supplying signage?
(QQ5) Is it that WCC doesn’t regard cycleways and walkways as adult infrastructure?

=== Cost comparison ===
The point of the questions around cost of tar seal or gravel are to find out whether you are doing the expected excellent job, and to find out whether you are doing the right thing for the right reason. Blanket claims of commercial sensitivity will be against the spirit of the LGOIMA, if not against the letter. Follow up questions therefore:
(QQ6) What was the expected complete cost of the tar seal option?
(QQ7) What is the expected complete cost of the gravel option?
(QQ8) You have supplied expected annual maintenance cost for gravel. What is it for tar seal?
(QQ9) Do you expect gravel to be washed out seriously more than once a year?
(QQ10) Has the half finished gravel washed out in March this year and in July this year as the rumours say?
(QQ11) Is the final gravel safe against wash out? I'm sure you hold documentation for the final surface, so please include this in your response.
(QQ12) You write “The Council has settled on an agreed price with the contractors”. What is that including GST? Right there you claim to hold this information.
(QQ13) You never write anything at all about how and why G&S was chosen. I explicitly asked for this, in all detail. Why is it, and what makes them better than their competitors?

=== Completion ===
You write that fencing work is completed. The gaps in the fence suggest otherwise.
(QQ14) Is the fencing work completely completed?
(QQ15) If not, when is fencing expected to be completed?

Regarding the opening. The current provisional partial conditional opening is not an actual opening, is not reliable, is not permanent, and doesn’t cater to common types of bicycle like the common road bike. If one was to guess then they'd say that you did this under the pressure from this LGOIMA request.
(QQ16) Is there a delay clause in any of the construction contracts?
(QQ17) What percentage of cycleway and shared path construction contracts that WCC signs have a delay clause?
(QQ18) What percentage of other road construction contracts that WCC signs have a delay clause?
(QQ19) If there is a delay clause, what precisely does it say?
(QQ20) If there is no delay clause, what is the precise reason not to have one?
(QQ21) The opening of Te Hikoi Ararewa -- the Wainuiomata shared path -- was an excellent celebration of active transport and community spirit. Politicians like mayor Ray Wallace used it to show their face while getting some exercise. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yTb-j76... -- What is the precise reason not to have one like this?
(QQ22) Is the reason not to have an opening celebration that WCC councillors and/or officers are embarrassed by the slow progress on Wakely Track?
(QQ23) Has an opening celebration ever been discussed between councillors and/or officers? Please provide details of any reasoning.

Ngā mihi
Aurélien de la Schlucht