Artist's visualisation of a second Mt Victoria Tunnel in Wellington. Photo / NZTA
By RNZ
The New Zealand Transport Agency has unveiled its proposals for State Highway 1 in Wellington, which would see a second Mt Victoria tunnel “affect some Town Belt” land.
An additional tunnel was part of the National Party’s campaign promise, with improvements in the area discussed for years.
The revamped state highway corridor from the Terrace Tunnel through to Kilbirnie is expected to cost $2.9 to $3.8 billion and is a bid to “alleviate Wellington’s longstanding bottlenecks”.
The proposal – which is being considered for fast-track approval – includes second tunnels created at Mt Victoria and The Terrace, and sees traffic moving in both directions around the Basin Reserve.
It could see more than 200 parking spaces removed.
NZTA’s regional manager of system design Kesh Keshaboina describes the design as “significant”, with the potential to have a major impact on Wellington’s transport infrastructure.
Public meetings on the proposals are to be held in the coming weeks.
The documents propose building a new two-lane eastbound tunnel – for traffic to the airport – to the north of Mt Victoria’s existing one.
The new tunnel “will affect some land in the Town Belt” and would include a 3.6m wide shared walking and cycling pathway.
The current tunnel would become two westbound lanes into the city.
Both Ruahine St and Wellington Rd on the eastern side of Mt Victoria Tunnel would widen to become two lanes in each direction, a move NZTA said was critical to alleviating the current bottleneck at Kilbirnie heading into the city.
NZTA said a section of land at the northern end of Kilbirnie Park would need to be bought to accommodate this.
A new Hataitai Park Bridge over SH1 near Goa St is also proposed.
A second tunnel is also proposed to be built at the Terrace Tunnel for southbound traffic into the city.
The new tunnel would be built to the east of the existing Terrace Tunnel, which would become a dedicated route for northbound traffic only.
The walking track from Kumutoto Lane to the grassed area above the tunnel will need to be removed to accommodate the widening for the second tunnel, NZTA said.
Speaking to Midday Report, Wellington mayor Andrew Little said he supported the plan overall, but that discussion was needed.
People losing homes and businesses had been foreshadowed for some time, but there would also be “much higher” traffic on streets not used to it.
The project would also take two hectares of the Town Belt – a “very special feature” of Wellington, Little said.
“So we have to talk with them, there’s going to be some very careful discussions about that.”
The proposed design for the Basin Reserve is described as a “major roading upgrade”.
It would affect multiple surrounding roads and see the current one-way, clockwise traffic move in both directions.
NZTA said the existing walking routes around and through the Basin would be maintained.
But the Home of Compassion Creche in Pukeahu War Memorial Park will need to be moved, NZTA said.
The documents also show Vivian St (heading towards the airport) and Karo Drive (heading out of the city) widening to three lanes.
Karo Drive would merge back to two lanes before the Terrace Tunnel.
An online survey to submit feedback on the proposals opens today.
Public information days are due to be held in the coming weeks, with the first meeting scheduled for November 23 at the Harbourside Markets.
- RNZ