A long tunnel for Wellington?

Simeon Brown announced:

State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. …

“The Long Tunnel option has the potential to deliver up to 15-minute travel time savings between the region and Wellington airport, compared to around 2-3 minutes for the current parallel or diagonal tunnel proposals at Mt Victoria and the Basin.

“The option would also see better urban amenity through greater reallocation of surface level road space to active modes and public transport in the CBD and greater opportunities for housing intensification. Enhanced regional connectivity to the airport and hospital would also be achieved with reduced city and state highway congestion.

The vision that Steven Joyce had was four lanes from the Airport to Levin. This would make that possible. The four lane tunnel would go from Wellington Road in Hataitai to north of the current Terrace Tunnel. That would basically provide six lanes into and out of Wellington in the North and East.

The two critical factors would be cost and time. It is a better solution than just duplicating the Mt Vic tunnel, but perfect can be the enemy of good. If it can’t be funded and start construction in the next six years, then better to do the project that can be. However if it can be made practical, the time savings would be massive for Wellingtonians. You’re talking up to two and a half hours a week less time stuck in traffic.

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