Of the nearly $5 million price tag to keep a Masterton rail crossing open, a “very large portion of the costs” is temporary traffic management, KiwiRail says.
The rail organisation released its latest cost estimates this week, shocking the district council which will need to foot the bill or throw the towel in.
KiwiRail originally wanted to close the crossing which would have turned Judds Rd into a dead end where it meets Ngaumutawa Rd.
The busy intersection is used by trucks and cars alike and keeping it open has an economic benefit of $2m each year.
Deputy Mayor Bex Johnson said the council had sent urgent communications to the Government asking it to help fund the $4.8m project to improve the crossing but had not heard back.
Local Government and Transport Minister Simeon Brown said funding for the crossing would be considered as part of the National Land Transport Programme which is expected to be released in the coming weeks.
“I have made my expectations clear that projects should take a no-frills approach in order to reduce costs,” he said.
“This includes reducing spending on temporary traffic management, and ensuring the scope of projects is carefully managed.”
KiwiRail programme director Andy Lyon said the latest design proposal included costs associated with removing parts of the existing road, building new pavement, lighting, drainage, signage, installing traffic lights and linking them in with the train signals system, as well as an allowance for the risk of unforeseen issues.
“The cost of temporary traffic management is a fairly large portion of the costs, to keep the traffic moving while the work is carried out.
“We welcome the council seeking its own cost estimates for the job and are happy to keep working with them on this.”
Labour leader Chris Hipkins, Ikaroa-Rawhiti MP Cushla Tangaere-Manuel, and Wairarapa based MP Kieran McAnulty visited the crossing this week to discuss the latest costings.
“If this does fall over it is absolutely not the council’s fault,” McAnulty said.
He said the Government needed to be engaging with KiwiRail to come up with an affordable and workable solution.
Both parties had promised that if elected, they would invest in keeping the crossing open, McAnulty said.
“They’ve got to step up.”
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air
