Labour needs to come clean on Kapiti Expressway
Ōtaki MP Nathan Guy says that local voters deserve to know what Labour’s full intentions are for the Kapiti Expressway.
“Very recently the Labour candidate for Otaki said the Expressway had progressed too far to be scrapped, then over the weekend Labour hierarchy stated it was going to be 're-evaluated,” says Mr Guy.
“Now today Labour’s Transport Spokesman has stated that Labour would ‘re-design’ the Expressway if they get elected. This proves there are huge divisions within Labour about this project.
“A re-design would surely mean a new consent process - this would stall the project for well over 12 months.
“Are Labour keen to revert to a two-lane, winding, 70 kilometre per hour local road, and leave State Highway One congested, unsafe, and with poor productivity?
“After years of planning and design, we finally have the bulldozers underway on this vital piece of infrastructure. Now Labour wants to stall the project while they "redesign it". This would be a horrible shambles for our local community,” says Mr Guy.
Mr Guy says Labour’s comments about removing “gold-plating” and ‘over-engineering" shows how out of touch they are about the quality of planning undertaken on the road.
“Which part of "gold plating” and “over-engineering" are they going to review?” asks Mr Guy.
“Will they remove the interchanges connecting with our two busiest local roads, the noise mitigation, native plantings and wetlands, or will it be the 18 kilometres of cycleways, bridleways and walkways along the entire expressway route?
“Huge progress has already been made on the $630 million expressway, with piles already poured for the Waikanae Bridge beams and sections of the expressway close to being sealed.
“It’s clear the 400 local jobs and many flow on benefits for our Kapiti community will all be at risk with a Labour-Green-Dotcom Government,” says Mr Guy.
“Now today Labour’s Transport Spokesman has stated that Labour would ‘re-design’ the Expressway if they get elected. This proves there are huge divisions within Labour about this project.
“A re-design would surely mean a new consent process - this would stall the project for well over 12 months.
“Are Labour keen to revert to a two-lane, winding, 70 kilometre per hour local road, and leave State Highway One congested, unsafe, and with poor productivity?
“After years of planning and design, we finally have the bulldozers underway on this vital piece of infrastructure. Now Labour wants to stall the project while they "redesign it". This would be a horrible shambles for our local community,” says Mr Guy.
Mr Guy says Labour’s comments about removing “gold-plating” and ‘over-engineering" shows how out of touch they are about the quality of planning undertaken on the road.
“Which part of "gold plating” and “over-engineering" are they going to review?” asks Mr Guy.
“Will they remove the interchanges connecting with our two busiest local roads, the noise mitigation, native plantings and wetlands, or will it be the 18 kilometres of cycleways, bridleways and walkways along the entire expressway route?
“Huge progress has already been made on the $630 million expressway, with piles already poured for the Waikanae Bridge beams and sections of the expressway close to being sealed.
“It’s clear the 400 local jobs and many flow on benefits for our Kapiti community will all be at risk with a Labour-Green-Dotcom Government,” says Mr Guy.