Let’s Get Wellington Moving announcement welcomed by Kāpiti Coast District Mayor

Kāpiti Coast District Mayor K Gurunathan welcomes Cabinet’s endorsement of the multi-billion dollar Let’s Get Wellington Moving proposal to address Wellington city’s transport woes.

Mayor K Gurunathan says progress can’t come quick enough. “Kāpiti residents are fed up,” he said.

“With more than 5,000 Kāpiti residents travelling in and out of Wellington each day, be it for work, to attend hospital appointments, maintain business connections or connect with family and friends, we need a reliable transport system that caters to the existing demand and helps foster future development.

“While there’s been significant investment in Roads of National Significance which has improved our District’s resilience and provided for safer journeys in and out of Wellington city, traffic continues to grind to halt once you hit the Ngaraunga Gorge.

“This will only get worse once the Peka Peka to Ōtaki Expressway and Transmission Gully are complete,” said the Mayor.

“There is an economic, environmental, and unquantifiable and personal cost to this and after decades of dithering it’s about bloody time something starts happening.

“Clearing this transport choke point is one area where regional mayors clearly agree that what's good for Wellington is good for all of the region.

“It's time for the region as a whole to get behind this commitment and we’re hopeful that today’s announcement will see a transformational shift in how people move between the CBD and the airport.”

While the Let’s Get Wellington Moving package is targeted to Wellington city, it is proposed that a further $4.4 billion is made available over the next 30 years for transport projects outside of the city.

“The commitment to invest a further $4.4 billion in projects outside of Wellington city means we can have confidence in our ability to secure funding to electrify commuter rail services from Waikanae to Ōtaki,” the Mayor said.

“It also means the NZ Transport Agency has access to the funds they need to extend the expressway north of Ōtaki to Levin.”

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