Leave Levin-Airport corridor alone, says Chamber

Business Central

Wellington Employers’ Chamber of Commerce

Media Statement

26 August 2014

Leave Levin-Airport corridor alone, says Chamber

The Labour Party’s plans to mess with major parts of the Levin to Airport transport corridor if elected would be a setback for a vital link in the region’s infrastructure, says Wellington Employers’ Chamber of Commerce President John Milford.

“Stopping the bulldozers on the Kapiti Expressway to look at the design and delaying the December start to Transmission Gully is not good news.

“We have waited long enough for these projects to start and we do not need further delays.

“They have been decades in the making and I see no reason to believe they are gold-plated or over-engineered. If that’s what’s required to make them fit-for-purpose, then that’s what we need. They need to last for decades.

“Residents in Kapiti who have gone through considerable anguish over the expressway may now find the designs could well change again, and that’s not good enough.

“Wellington companies which use the corridor to conduct business would be horrified at the prospect of more changes and more delays. And people who use it to for work or to travel up the island would be frustrated that even more time could be added before this project will be finished.

“Instead of talking about undoing or delaying work that has started, perhaps Labour should be talking about what they would do about the bottleneck at the Basin Reserve. That’s the real problem.”

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