Traffic congestion on State Highway 1 between the Basin Reserve and Mt Victoria Tunnel in Wellington. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Traffic congestion on State Highway 1 between the Basin Reserve and Mt Victoria Tunnel in Wellington. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Wellington councils have manoeuvred to try to ensure a second Mt Victoria tunnel provides no additional capacity for cars in the future.
Last week the Government announced its preferred option for Let's Get Wellington Moving (LGWM), which is the $7.4 billion plan to overhaul the capital's transport network.
This included light rail to Island Bay, a second Mount Victoria tunnel with two lanes for cars and two lanes for public transport, bus priority to the east, and upgrades at the Basin Reserve.
The existing Mt Victoria tunnel would be turned into one dedicated for walking and cycling.
This means the option provides no additional capacity for cars through Mt Victoria.
Both Wellington City Council and Greater Wellington Regional Council voted today to support the Government's preferred option through to the detailed business case phase.
But there are fears among some councillors that the use of the new second tunnel could be changed by future governments to provide more lanes for private vehicles.
National's transport spokesman Simeon Brown said last week the Government's preferred option failed to take into account the "actual needs" of Wellingtonians, "which is for the route between Miramar and Wellington CBD to have four lanes for general traffic," he said.
Today, the councils agreed to amendments noting a combination of the existing and new Mt Victoria tunnels will provide one dedicated lane for public transport and one lane for private vehicles in each direction.
Greater Wellington Regional councillor Thomas Nash. Photo / Mark Mitchell
They noted these tunnels will also provide improved capacity for active modes and that the existing bus tunnel will be retained for local services.
They agreed all of this would be integral to LGWM achieving its objectives.
Regional councillor Thomas Nash said they did not have an unlimited budget of emissions to spend on building tunnels and roads.
"We need to make sure we actually get the proposed dedicated public transport lanes in any new tunnel and that we don't just end up with a four-lane highway for private motor vehicles through Mt Victoria."
City councillor Iona Pannett issued a warning to any future National government.
"We will be waiting and there will be thousands of people who can take legal action to stop any more urban roading.... the vision of a city which is car-dominated must be put to rest."
Speaking generally about the decision to support the Government's preferred option, Greater Wellington chairman Daran Ponter said LGWM was now in a more stable position.
"This is a big milestone for Wellington and has been generally well-received by the public."
Mayor Andy Foster agreed with Ponter and acknowledged that 18 months ago things "weren't quite right" within the programme.
