Simeon Brown reveals estimated cost of Wellington’s scrapped mega tunnel, second Mt Victoria tunnel to be fast-tracked - A Capital Letter

The State Highway 1 Mt Victoria Tunnel in Wellington. Photo / Mark Mitchell

THREE KEY FACTS

• The NZ Transport Agency board has decided not to build a long tunnel underneath Wellington.
• Instead, the Mt Victoria and Terrace tunnels will be doubled and improvements made to the Basin Reserve.
• Travel times during peak hours will be reduced by 10 minutes for those travelling from the northern suburbs to the CBD, hospital, and airport.

Senior journalist Georgina Campbell’s A Capital Letter column takes a deeper look at issues in Wellington, where she is based. She has a particular interest in local government, transport, and seismic issues. She joined the Herald in 2019 after working as a broadcast journalist.

ANALYSIS

The Government has announced a 4km tunnel underneath central Wellington will not be built but there is a consolation prize - a project that hasn’t been on the table since the early days of the beleaguered Let’s Get Wellington Moving (LGWM) transport plan.

Transport Minister Simeon Brown today confirmed what has been suspected for at least the past month now.

The long tunnel from The Terrace to Kilbirnie isn’t happening.

Bown told the Herald the tunnel was unaffordable with an estimated cost of about $8 billion.

Given the long tunnel was previously rejected as recently as 2021, ultimately because of its “eye-watering” cost, it’s not surprising that it remains an un-viable option today.

There was disbelief when the Government announced it was investigating the long tunnel option after it axed the Cook Strait mega ferry project because costs had escalated to almost $3b.

It would have looked even worse if the Government had gone ahead with an expensive mega project like the tunnel after announcing a plan to downgrade Dunedin’s new hospital project because those costs had also escalated to $3 billion.

Then there is the fact the National Party promised to get spades in the ground for a second Mt Victoria tunnel and improvements to the Basin Reserve within its first term.

The Government has already risked looking hypocritical by asking officials to investigate the long tunnel rather than just getting on with it.

It wasn’t long before doubt was cast over this campaign promise. The National Land Transport Programme (NLTP) did not commit to a timeframe for beginning construction on the new tunnel.

The Government has arguably wasted time and money - at least $1.6 million on consultants - to investigate something that has been labelled a pipe dream.

Not to mention such an ambitious project like the long tunnel could become reminiscent of LGWM’s glacial pace or worse, become National’s own Auckland light rail nightmare.

However, Brown maintained investigating the tunnel was necessary because more detailed work on the option was never done under the Labour Government.

He accused the previous Government of discounting the long tunnel because of its focus on light rail, walking, and cycling.

Local Government Minister Simeon Brown said the long tunnel was unaffordable with an estimated cost of about $8 billion. Photo / Mark Mitchell

So, Wellington is back to getting the long-awaited second Mt Victoria tunnel to ease the city’s congestion woes, along with improvements at the Basin Reserve. The 0.7km second tunnel will run parallel to the existing one.

But the Government also announced another tunnel. A duplicate 0.5km Terrace Tunnel will be built parallel to the existing one.

Brown said the Government was focused on the efficiency of the transport network.

“That’s why you see what the NZTA (NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi) board has confirmed is not just around the Mt Victoria tunnel and Basin Reserve upgrades but also the Terrace Tunnel to ensure that we are actually getting that efficiency for the network, which was what the long tunnel was all about.

“It was about making sure that we got network benefits for State Highway 1 going all the way through Wellington, four lanes to the planes. This delivers that by removing both of those blockage points.”

It’s estimated travel times during peak hours will be reduced by 10 minutes for those travelling from the northern suburbs to the CBD, hospital, and airport.

It's expected a second Mt Victoria Tunnel will be built before a second Terrace Tunnel. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Doubling the Terrace Tunnel was part of the recommended programme for investment under the now cancelled LGWM plan.

The second Terrace Tunnel didn’t make the cut when the Labour Government announced the final list of projects in 2019 and made mass rapid transit front and centre of the plan.

In 2020, then National Party leader Judith Collins promised to double both tunnels. The estimated cost of a second Terrace Tunnel at that time was $400 million.

National’s 2023 estimate for a second Mt Victoria tunnel and Basin Reserve improvements was $2.2b.

Brown expected the Mt Victoria tunnel to be built ahead of the Terrace Tunnel.

The two tunnels and Basin Reserve upgrades will be consented as a single corridor and delivered in stages.

The projects will now move through an investment case which will be brought back to the NZTA board in mid-2025.

Brown would not say how much the project would cost ahead of the investment case being undertaken but confirmed it would be billions of dollars cheaper than the long tunnel option.

Asked whether he was confident spades would be in the ground on a second Mt Victoria tunnel within the Government’s first term as promised, Brown said NZTA was considering opportunities to begin enabling works in 2026.

“The good thing about this option is that a lot of property is already owned by NZTA along this corridor ... there’s a lot of opportunities to get things moving.”

The project is also listed under the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill.

The existing Mt Victoria Tunnel opened in 1931. Almost a century later, Wellington might finally get a second one.

Georgina Campbell is a Wellington-based reporter who has a particular interest in local government, transport, and seismic issues. She joined the Herald in 2019 after working as a broadcast journalist.