Political Rhetoric Backfires Over Expressway
November 20th, 2008
Loose talk by National politicians over the Waikato Expressway appears to be coming back to haunt them already. Waikato’s new regional transport boss, Harry Wilson, says it is highly unlikely the Waikato Expressway will be completed within 10 years as National has promised. In addition, he says it is still impossible to say what it will cost to complete the 94.5km expressway. These admissions come after National promised to complete the highway within 10 years at cost of $790m.
Wide Range Of Issues. Wilson says there are more issues which determine when a road is built, apart from funding promises, and a 20-year window might be more realistic. These include working in an orderly manner through community consultation, designation, land purchase, design and construction. “It is simply about the phasing that is required to produce a series of connected projects.” Wilson also dismissed National’s claimed price tag for the work. “I have no idea what it will cost to complete the expressway.”
Other Projects Need Consideration. He adds a whole lot of factors come into consideration in terms of design including traffic volumes and the impact of the project’s total cost on other priorities in the region. “You don’t just suddenly leap in and build a four-lane highway. If you put all your funding into four-laning everything, the Kopu Bridge doesn’t get built.” Hopefully now in Govt, National will learn to leave costing and timeframes of such projects to the professionals rather than falsely raising expectations.
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