The current Mt Victoria Tunnel in Wellington. Photo / Mark Mitchell
The current Mt Victoria Tunnel in Wellington. Photo / Mark Mitchell
The Government has opted to build a second, parallel Mt Victoria Tunnel – rather than an underground mega-tunnel – in a bid to ease congestion in central Wellington.
The Government will also build a duplicate Terrace Tunnel, to run parallel to the existing Terrace Tunnel, and upgrade to the roading around the Basin Reserve.
Transport Minister Simeon Brown says the upgrades will save commuters around 10 minutes on journeys.
The existing two-lane tunnel between Wellington’s Basin Reserve and its eastern suburbs is a bottleneck and National promised during its election campaign it would begin work on a second option during its parliamentary term.
Brown said forecast population growth across the region was expected to increase travel demand across the network, and “without improvements within 10 years, the region could be looking at travel time increases of up to 50% between Ngauranga and the airport”.
“The option endorsed by the [NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi] board includes a second Mt Victoria Tunnel that will run parallel to the existing tunnel, a duplicate Terrace Tunnel, and upgrades to the Basin Reserve that will reduce travel times and improve reliability for commuters on the North-South bus corridor.
Transport Minister Simeon Brown pictured with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. Photo / Mark Mitchell
“These improvements will result in significant travel time savings during peak times, reducing travel times from the northern suburbs to the CBD, hospital, and airport by approximately 10 minutes.”
Brown said commuters travelling on the number one bus between Island Bay and the Railway Station were forecasted to save nine minutes during morning peak times while those on the number two bus between Miramar and the CBD would notice a saving of 11 minutes on their journeys.
Brown said today after considering the options, he was confident that the chosen option would “significantly reduce congestion and provide more efficient and reliable access as we continue to rebuild the economy”.
Finance Minister and National list MP in Ōhāriu, Nicola Willis, said Wellingtonians had been desperate for infrastructure upgrades for years.
“These combined investments in our transport network will help to reduce the gridlock and support economic growth with peak travel time savings of 10 minutes from the Wellington Region to the CBD, hospital and airport.
“The inclusion of a duplicate Terrace Tunnel parallel to the existing one will help ease the frustrations caused by congestion when travelling southbound and enable faster and safer transportation of people and freight.”
The transport project includes:
A second 0.7km Mount Victoria Tunnel parallel to the existing tunnel.
A duplicate 0.5km Terrace Tunnel parallel to the existing tunnel with tie-ins.
Grade separation between State Highway 1 and local roads through the Basin Reserve upgrade. This will be achieved through an extension of the Arras Tunnel and moving the westbound SH1 traffic to the northern side of the Basin Reserve. Local traffic, including public transport, will pass over SH1 on the western side of the Basin Reserve.
Wider network improvements to maximise benefits along the SH1 corridor through Wellington.
The SH1 Wellington improvements will result in a reduction of traffic on local city streets, and this will support Wellington’s North-South, East-West, and Harbour Quays bus corridors as identified in the Government Policy Statement on Land Transport 2024.
The roading improvements will now move through an investment case to be brought back to the NZTA board mid-next year.
Julia Gabel is a Wellington-based political reporter. She joined the Herald in 2020 and has most recently focused on data journalism.
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