Council candidate calls for Expressway review in light of earthquake

Press Release: Janet Holborow

Kapiti Coast District Council candidate Janet Holborow is calling for an immediate review into the affordability of the proposed Expressway in light of the $4 billion cost to the national economy of the Canterbury earthquake and $1.6 billion bailout of South Canterbury Finance.

“More than ever, this is a time for fiscal responsibility, not unnecessary spending,” says Ms Holborow, who is running for Paekakariki/Raumati Ward in the upcoming local body elections. “In light of these new and urgent challenges facing the economy, it’s highly imprudent to spend $500 million on an expressway when we already have an option for a $120 million route ready to go which would relieve traffic along the existing highway by around 40%.”

“David Cunliffe, finance spokesman for Labour, speaking on TVNZ7’s lively Back Benches , questioned whether the Expressway should go ahead with the estimated cost of the earthquake having risen from $2 billion to $4 billion," she says. “He pointed out that $4 billion is two year’s worth of budgets of all the new money the government spends and also that it's two years worth of superannuation.“

The prioritisation of roads in the region should also be reviewed, she says. “The Sandhills Expressway will provide little benefit to the Wellington region in the event of a major earthquake,” she says.

“If priority must be given to a particular route, the Minister would be better off fast-tracking the long-mooted Tranmission Gully, which would provide a second corridor north of Wellington.”

Ends

© Scoop Media