A number of people have raised with SOK one of two schools of thought:

1)    The Government won’t have the money it is never going to happen; or
2)    The study is continuing so it is inevitable.

So,what is right? Read on.

The question the study is looking at is:
If a road were to be built
in the corridor
how could it be built
and what would it be its cost, benefits, impacts etc.

Government then looks at
This study
Other studies
Other priorities (how much money it has)
and makes a decision whether it will:

*  Build now (no money allocated in this budget - so any decision on building would not be before June next year)
*  Build later - ie put into the South Eastern Queensland Infrastructure Plan - which is a 25 year wish list of future projects, or into Connecting SEQ 2031, which is due out in June 2010.
*  Build something else
*  do nothing - keep the corridor but make no decisions whatsoever (generally what Government is good at)
*  sell the corridor - unusual for corridors to be sold - but challenges Government faces in  terms of funding are unique. Study has always had a process in place - you should push in your emails for this.

What we can tell from study to date
-  construction is difficult, but engineers can build almost anywhere
- but this makes it very expensive (as much as a billion dollars)
- for not that many road users (unless major development or new highway link)
-  there are a lot of impacts

So what does all that mean ?
The study doesn’t decide anything.
The study will keep going till they deliver an option to Government of how a road may be built.
It becomes an input into Government thinking.
We need to keep working on Government (and alternative Government).
They will make the decision.

At the last election:
–ALP attacked Bruce Flegg for unfunded committment to Bypass and questioned the worth of the project.
–The LNP’s (then) Leader, Lawrence Springborg, refused to back the project and said in correspondence questioned putting major new highway link through heart of Western suburbs.
–Mr Flegg, the local MP, ran his campaign as a referendum on the bypass.  The amount of people voting for him decreased and he failed to get a majority of people voting for him (which he had got the previous time).

Assessment:
Need to keep the pressure on at the decision maker level - the politicians, to make sure they deliver long term solutions for taxpayers, residents and commuters.  The Kenmore Bypass is a hair-brain scheme and there are quicker, better and cheaper alternatives.

I believe the Bypass is much less likely now than when the study started.  Why is that ?  The continuing pressure - your efforts - has put the spotlight on - other alternatives, impacts, and kept politicians and public servants on their toes.  The many thousands of letters, the emails, the calls you have made, the rallies you have attended, the letters to the editor, the calls to talkback radio, the leafleats you dropped, have all made it less likely.

But we still need some more help from you..  We need to keep pushing for total scrapping, and we need to keep on advocating for the better solutions.  If we are part of pushing for a solution that saves taxpayers money and ensures people can do what they want or need to conveniently, there isn’t any need.  The key focus for this will come when a preferred option is announced.

Thanks again for all your help - we have achieved much, but there is still more to be done.