Margaret Stevenson-Wright, one of the candidates we recommend for the Waikanae Community Board, asked the KCDC under the OIA what information is held in council files on this, as the only figure we have seen is that cited by Michael Scott of $27 million.

The response above states “no documents have been found in council files that show an associated cost for the options discussed” (in 2009 by a design workshop in which the NZTA, the KCDC and the GWRC participated).  Thus the figure of $27 million just seems to have been pulled out of the air.

The document cited in the above letter – here – has these figures for what is termed ‘the Waikanae Grade Separation’ project:

A three-year project cost of $3 million and an estimated total project cost of $44 million.

However, there is no precise statement of what this would have involved. But in a document attached to the OIA request reply, there is this paragraph:

It’s important to note:

1. At the time, 2009, there had been no decision to build the Expressway and the general belief was that the now Expressway route would be the much less elaborate Western Link Road, while State Highway One would be upgraded including though Waikanae.
2. If State Highway One was to stay on the existing route, the underpasses would need to be much more elaborate than for a local road, which is what the present SH1 will become in December.
3. The concept cited above, ‘Local traffic in underpass’, would indeed be very expensive as Michael Scott claims, but that isn’t what we propose, which is much less involved.

It’s believed that the developers of the Lindale area just north of Paraparaumu a decade ago spent about $5 million on their SH1 underpass, and that seems a realistic ballpark figure for what we propose for Elizabeth Street.  We are going to try to get professional opinion on this.