Wellington's transport plans inch forward with awarding of contracts for mass transit and state highway projects

Wednesday, 11 March 2020

A mass public transport system is due to be constructed between Wellington Railway Station and the airport as part of the $6.4 billion Let's Get Wellington Moving programme.

Wellington's grand transport plans are inching forward, with contracts awarded for the design of a mass transit system and extra Mt Victoria tunnel.

Let's Get Wellington Moving (LGWM) announced on Wednesday representatives from Aurecon and Future Group would help design and plan an extra Mt Victoria tunnel, along with a new road at the Basin Reserve.

International firms GHD and Jacobs would lead design and planning work for a mass public transport system from Wellington Railway Station to the airport.

Design work will soon get under way for Wellington's proposed extra Mt Victoria tunnel. (File photo)

The work is part of the $6.4 billion Let's Get Wellington Moving transport programme announced in May last year.

The National Party has launched a campaign to bring forward construction of the tunnel. (File photo)

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The preferred option to improve traffic at the Basin Reserve includes an extended Sussex St connecting to Kent/Cambridge Terrace, running over the top of a new tunnel. (File photo)

LGWM was formed in 2016 after the New Zealand Transport Agency's plans to build a Basin Reserve flyover were scuppered by a Board of Inquiry a couple of years earlier.

The group is made up of representatives from NZTA, Greater Wellington Regional Council and Wellington City Council, and aims to solve traffic congestion between Wellington Airport and the Ngauranga Gorge.

It revealed its 20-year plan in May - minus a couple of big-ticket items which failed to secure funding - but work on major projects is not expected to start for several years.

A proposed mass transit system will run along Taranaki St and past the Basin Reserve to Newtown and the airport. (File photo)

Despite revealing the plan almost a year ago, the preferred technology and route for the mass transit system is yet to be determined.

It is expected to cost up to $2.2b, but no funding has yet been set aside for the project, with early business case work scheduled to begin early next year.

The proposed route in the LGWM plan runs from Wellington Railway Station along the waterfront quays, up Taranaki St, and past the Basin Reserve to Newtown and the airport.

It is expected to be completed some time after 2029.

A solution for the congested Basin Reserve roundabout on State Highway 1 is said to to include a tunnel under Sussex St, while the extra Mt Victoria tunnel would run adjacent to the existing two-lane tunnel.

The Basin project, which includes changes to the road layout by 2024, is expected to cost $190m, while the Mt Victoria tunnel, including widening Ruahine St and Wellington Rd, is forecast to cost $700m.

Work on both projects is scheduled to get under way within the next 10 years.

Wellington Mayor Andy Foster said the awarding of contracts for the projects was a significant step in the programme.

'Awarding contracts for investigation of the mass transit and state highway work to a consortium of companies with such extensive local and international experience and expertise is fantastic.'

Greater Wellington Regional Council chair Daran Ponter said Wellingtonians would be pleased to see detailed planning work finally getting under way.

'We're keen to understand how mass transit will integrate with the region's public transport network and bring ratepayers and customers more choice when accessing key regional destinations such as the hospital and airport.'