If you want to understand how difficult it is to build major roads in Wellington, check out a video by MP Chris Bishop from just before the last election.
Bishop, who subsequently won the Hutt South seat, speaks supportively of the Melling Interchange which Labour had announced with a $700m budget, for a project that was then known as RiverLink.
Bishop promised that “the next National Government” would “seriously investigate” extending the Melling Line north.
Fast forward one year and the much talked about Melling Interchange is bogged down at the design stage and, due to a lack of funding, the future of the Melling train line is now uncertain with Greater Wellington suggesting it might be closed.
Various dates to start the interchange, on State Highway 2, have come and gone over the past three years.
