You really have to admire the front of this Government. They’ve made yet another multi-billion dollar infrastructure announcement, this time for light-rail in Wellington. It’s the perfect case to run a sweepstake on.
The Government is moving ahead with a second Mt Victoria tunnel for Wellington and light rail running from the central railway station to Island Bay as its “preferred choice”.
Upgrades will also be made to improve traffic flow at the Basin Reserve, which involves the extension of the Arras Tunnel.
The package is estimated to cost $7.4 billion in 2030 dollars.
This morning Finance Minister Grant Robertson and Transport Minister Michael Wood outlined the long-awaited decision on Let’s Get Wellington Moving’s (LGWM) big projects.
NZ Herald
Are these guys serious? Light-rail for Wellington, along with an eye-watering projected cost, which in all likelihood will expand exponentially once they eventually start building the stupid thing.
What is hilarious is that the promotional video starts with an old National Party election slogan by saying Hello to “a brighter future”:
This is the same Michael Wood who has announced light-rail to Mt Roskill and the Airport, three times. He also announced a billion dollar bike bridge across Auckland Harbour, then cancelled it, then announced something else. He’s the same guy who cancelled Mill Road only to re-announce it months later, and, of course, the empty unpatronised and aptly named after an extinct bird train service between Auckland and Hamilton, that was neither rapid nor indeed any sort of transit.
The chances of the party that couldn’t build 100,000 homes in ten years, couldn’t lay a single millimetre of light-rail track in Auckland, couldn’t build a bridge across the Auckland Harbour, of actually building this white elephant are slim to nothing.
And that’s before they realise that one thing these idiots always forget about is the ground shaking hazard – Kent and Cambridge Terrace were originally planned as canals before the 1850s, they are marked as a hazard ground shaking area on the District planning maps, as is the eastern side of the Basin Reserve…which used to be a harbour before an earthquake raised the land, as well as a small part of the area of Adelaide Road just south of the Basin Reserve. I bet they abandoned the light rail to the airport because most of that route was on shaky ground right by the water.
As to the sweepstake, one punter has already told me he’ll put $1000 on never. Another has said that he’d have a $1m on ‘not this century’ but sadly I’m not likely to be around to collect.
Personally I’d bet a dollar to a knob of goat poo that this will be yet another failure to deliver for the hapless Michael Wood and this sorry excuse for a Government.
But you needn’t fret needlessly, I’m sure Chris Bishop and Nicola Willis are badgering Christopher Luxon right now to support this project too. You watch, they’ll endorse this plan with beaming smiles.
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