Wellington Chamber of Commerce slams city's $6.4b transport plan

Wellington Chamber of Commerce chief executive John Milford says the government has compromised the city's transport plan. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The Wellington Chamber of Commerce has slammed the capital's $6.4 billion transport plan, saying it has been compromised by the government.

The Chamber has released its pre-election report, which features a scathing attack on Let's Get Wellington Moving (LGWM).

Mass rapid transit is the big winner in the government-endorsed package.

But a second Mt Victoria tunnel has been put on the backburner with National MPs going as far as saying it has been put on the "never never".

Meanwhile, a second Terrace tunnel and trenching Karo Dr didn't make the cut at all.

The Chamber has doubled down on its view those projects should not have been left out in the cold.

"The Government's indicative package of transport projects are selective project choices, and fundamentally compromise the comprehensive and publicly backed project that took over three years to put together," the report said.

But the Government says the package will deliver what Wellingtonians said they wanted during consultation - a world class public transport system and safe walking and cycling.

"If we simply build more motorways and add lanes, induced demand will see them fill up with cars and congestion gets worse. This is why LA, which is the classic example, has 16 lanes of motorway and every one of them clogged with cars", Transport Minister Phil Twyford said.

Let's Get Wellington Moving will prioritise public transport, walking and cycling. Image / Supplied

Chamber chief executive John Milford said he was supportive of public transport, walking and cycling but the overall package lacked balance.

It did not address all modes of transport, he said.

"It's not addressing the key issue of roads, it's ludicrous that the main highway goes through the middle of the city with zebra crossings on it."

He said building mass rapid transit would not stop cars coming into the city, especially with Transmission Gully coming online.

Twyford has pushed back on the Chamber's criticism over excluding some roading projects listed in the initial recommended programme for investment.

"If the Chamber has a spare $1.8 billion to invest in the second Terrace tunnel and trenching Karo Dr, then we should talk.

"Central Government has already committed $3.8 billion to the LGWM project and any more would have the rest of NZ rightly questioning whether Wellington is getting more than its fair share," Twyford said.

Wellington mayor Justin Lester has committed to building a second Terrace tunnel, should funding become available.

But it's clear that's not in the current government's plans and local councils have enough on their plates trying to come up with their 40 per cent share for the approved LGWM indicative package.

Wellington mayor Justin Lester has committed to building a second Terrace Tunnel, should funding become available. Photo / Georgina Campbell

The Chamber report said the project's financing was an unfunded mandate.

"The multibillion-dollar commitment could potentially overwhelm councils' budgets- which will then get shunted on to ratepayers. Councillors must demand answers from central government agencies about the lack of commitment to fixing the region's transport congestion issues and make sure the solutions are there that will fix them."

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has ruled out a regional fuel tax for Wellington and a congestion charge would require legislative change.

Other funding options being considered by local councils are a transport levy, value capture along the mass rapid transit spine, and a car park levy.