From Richard Ferraro, Ventnor:
I SEE (CP, 28-09-18), thankfully, there is little appetite on the part of mainland local authorities for Pro-Link’s road tunnels. 
Especially with a price tag of (minimum) £3 billion. All of which must be committed before construction starts, and all spent before traffic rolls.  
From my previous correspondence, you will know my main objections to the proposals are that, first, in the 21st century, it is absurd to invest vast amounts of money into car-based transport. 
UK government policy and world-wide experience (recently New Zealand) point to the creation of low-energy, affordable light rail systems. Second, for sure, the IW’s existing road system does not have the capacity to accommodate the amount of extra traffic that Pro-Link seeks to impose. 
Subject to further work (therefore broad brush) it should cost no more than £1 billion to re-construct most of the IW’s former (and existing) railway network as new light rail infrastructure. That figure assumes 50 miles of track constructed at an overall cost of £20m per mile. (Or 40 miles at £25m per mile, etc.) This expenditure could be phased, with construction in sections, spread over ten-15 years.
For an extra £0.5 billion, which is optional, it should be possible to construct a light rail tunnel between Ryde and Portsmouth Harbour, linking the Island’s network directly to national rail and bus networks. 
Also, this extra sum could most likely cover the cost of sorting out several bottlenecks on the Island’s road system. For example, the construction of a roundabout at the T junction at Downend Road (near Arreton Barns), and the construction of a slip lane at the traffic lights at the Hare and Hounds.  
The future of the IW is best served by a new light rail network. 
Crowd funded fees to pay ARUP engineers would be better spent on a feasibility study for light rail.