Wellington mayor reluctant to join bid to dissuade tooting in Mt Victoria Tunnel

Wellington's mayor has defended the capital's tradition of tooting in the Mt Victoria tunnel after a bid to stop it.

City councillor Chris Calvi-Freeman, who holds the transport portfolio, is writing to the New Zealand Transport Authority to rid the blasting of horns.

The tradition of a beep and toot whilst driving through the tunnel in central Wellington has been recorded in archives and letters to the editor in newspapers since 1961.

Although an iconic custom in the capital, Calvi-Freeman said it was "annoying" to people who walk through the tunnel.

Calvi-Freeman said it was time for a notice at the ends of tunnel persuading people not to toot.

"Most people don't realise when they are driving through that it is not really one of these victimless things... what you are doing is creating a great level of annoyance for people walking through the tunnel."

He said he would be writing to NZTA, which maintains the tunnel, asking for signage that's "persuasive rather than dictatorial" suggesting people to not sound horns while driving through.

"Anything that we can do to help people to endure that short walk through there is to be supported."

Ellen Blake, vice-president of Living Streets Aotearoa, said she walked through the tunnel the other day and there was a lot of honking.

"It does put me off walking through regularly, and seems to be getting worse. It's also illegal already, as horns are for emergency warnings only."

She said the punishment should be to make tooters walk through the tunnel and back and thinks that would fix it.

Mayor Justin Lester said he would not be the one to tell people to stop tooting.

"It's a tradition and a bit of a tourism attraction for Wellingtonians too, I think people take all of their visitors to the city through the tunnel and they toot,

"My kids love it when they hear people tooting, so each to their own and if Wellingtonians want to keep doing it - good luck to them."

The transport agency remains lukewarm on the issue.

Mark Owen, regional transport systems manager, said they would consider any request from the city council for new signage but know it is a tradition that is not likely to stop anytime soon.

"We do ask drivers to spare a thought for those walking and riding through the tunnel and consider laying off the horn when they see pedestrians or cyclists on the raised walkway."

There is some debate as to how the tooting began, with theories such as a tribute to a murdered teenager and rebelling against a "please don't toot sign" common knowledge.

Gabor Tóth, Wellington City Libraries local history specialist, said the story of Phyllis Symons was an interesting theory.

Symons was a teenager murdered in 1931 by her boyfriend George Coats, when the tunnel was being built.

Tóth said Coates was working near Hataitai Park, close to the tunnel, and was later executed two months after the tunnel opened.

Although it was an interesting theory that people honk to pay tribute to the murdered teen, Tóth said the story had fallen out of common knowledge by the 1960's and only came to prominence again following the use of the internet.

"I think it is a nice idea but there's no real weight behind it to indicate that's why the tooting started."

He believes it started due to people copying each other - and that it is "great fun."

Victoria University of Wellington music students did field recording of the sound in the tunnel and noted there was a big increase of tooting on Friday afternoons into Saturday.

"It is almost like a celebratory thing of when the week's over and this great feeling of release going through the tunnel," Tóth said.

"It's great for the people in the car, not so great for pedestrians walking through."