Construction work on Wellington’s Golden Mile will begin in September, cars to be removed

An artist impression of the transformation of the Golden Mile as part of Let's Get Wellington Moving. Image / LGWM

Funding has been approved for two significant Let’s Get Wellington Moving (LGWM) projects, with construction on the plan to remove private vehicles from the Golden Mile to start in September.

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency signed off on funding its share of the $139.4m Golden Mile project last week. Some work is already under way for the Thorndon Quay Hutt Rd project with the construction of a roundabout at Aotea Quay – this work is projected to cost $93.6m.

Waka Kotahi will pay for 51 per cent of each project with the remaining 49 per cent to be paid for by Wellington City Council.

Major works on the Golden Mile are anticipated to begin in April 2024, and LGWM programme director Sarah Gardner told NZME she believed in the work wholeheartedly.

“The international examples we have looked to, and the way it has been designed has great potential for success – I think this will work,” she told Newstalk ZB Wellington Morning’s host Nick Mills.

The funding approval comes after LGWM survived a notice of motion supported by seven Wellington City councillors to declare no confidence in the transport plan.

The council has faced fierce opposition to the Golden Mile plan from some businesses, who wrote an open letter to Mayor Tory Whanau last month.

“This initiative will do nothing to enliven the city centre. After the shocks of recent years we’ve gone quiet,” they wrote.

“Turning our main artery into little more than a bus lane will not bring in people and help us recover. It will do the opposite.”

But Whanau said the project to revitalise the Golden Mile is what transformational change looked like.

“It will create a beautiful and pedestrian-friendly CBD that will attract people, workers, and shoppers. It will make our buses more reliable. It is estimated to deliver hundreds of millions of dollars to benefit our city.”

It’s a position backed by Gardner who told Mills businesses will benefit from the new transport plan.

“What we know is that when you create a space that’s attractive and inviting for people to be, when you minimise traffic people come to that area, stay longer and spend more...but I acknowledge that change can be difficult and it’s hard sometimes to see what the future looks like.”

Vita Molyneux is a Wellington-based journalist who covers breaking news and stories from the capital. She has been a journalist since 2018 and joined the Herald in 2021.