Dawn Picken's opinion piece [Bay of Plenty Times, August 24] – it is all very well her ‘Citizens Underdogs' for Bayfair Underpass raising their heads above the parapet at the death knell around election time. Where were protesters when underpass issues first surfaced, late 2018, when as long-time Bayfair residents we first wrote to the Minister of Transport about the crazy $13.3million costing for a new underpass, then ballooning a ludicrous $33 million. Those obscene costs could never be justified for the few pedestrians and lycra-clad cyclists brigade tunnel users.

Certainly, we readily agree retaining the existing underpass should have been factored into the equation by NZTA from the get-go as far the best financial option. NZTA pooh-poohed that idea, promoting a new underpass that was never feasible cost-wise. So why not an overpass similar to Route K/Windermere installations at $3.5million or better still install precast concrete box sections just below the road surface for substantially less.

For heaven's sake protesters get behind the two cost-effective practical solutions and stop bleating over spilt milk. It is grandstanding, knee-jerking by special interest groups and won't change NZTA mindsets. Citizens need to be proactive at the outset, not bottom of the cliff reactive.

Sally Paterson, Ohauiti