The cost to build an overpass over a notorious Darwin intersection has nearly tripled in just two years to $165 million, prompting the Northern Territory opposition to call for more transparency around the project.
The intersection between Tiger Brennan Drive and Berrimah Road, east of Darwin's CBD, has been the site of several fatal crashes since being constructed a decade ago.
These fatalities spurred the territory and federal governments to commit to separating the two arterials, a venture they will fund evenly.
In response to a question on notice in NT parliament, Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics Minister, Eva Lawler, revealed the project was now expected to cost over $100 million more than originally planned.
The project's cost had already been revised up twice prior, first from its original price tag of $61.5 million to $110 million in May last year, before ballooning to $127.8 million in November.
Just four months later, and Minister Eva Lawler has confirmed an additional price hike, to $165 million.
"Since design concept, the civil construction sector has seen significant material and supply market increases which have affected this project," she wrote.
Ms Lawler said "value engineering" had resulted in some savings to the project.
Concerns about 'select tender' process
Tiger Brennan Drive carries nearly 20,000 vehicles per day, according to the NT government, while Berrimah Road is a major freight link for the East Arm industrial area.
Ms Lawler said the project was a "key priority" and necessary to ensure traffic could flow continuously in both directions while improving motorist safety.
Local construction company Sitzler was awarded the contracts to deliver two stages of the overpass's development, one for early works and the second for detailed design and construction of the project.
Speaking on ABC Radio Darwin this morning, the opposition's infrastructure, planning and logistics spokesman, Gerard Maley, said he wanted more scrutiny around how the project's contracts had been awarded.
He said the project had used a "select tender" process to award contracts, where companies were selected by the government without a formal tender process.
"This has gone from $60m to $160 million, so there's $100 million of taxpayers' money spent without any tender process," he said.
Mr Maley said the government had been communicating "very poorly" around the project's cost increases and needed to provide more detail.
At a press conference this morning, Chief Minister Natasha Fyles said economic conditions were driving up the price tag for infrastructure projects, with many costing "30 and 40 per cent above what they would've been just a couple of years ago".
She said the increased costs for the Tiger Brennan Drive overpass would be worn evenly by both levels of government.
