Mt Victoria tunnel: Government makes decision, Wellington getting two new tunnels

The Government has opted to build a second, parallel Mt Victoria Tunnel – rather than an underground mega-tunnel – in a bid to ease congestion in central Wellington. The Government will also build a duplicate Terrace Tunnel, to run parallel to the existing Terrace Tunnel, and upgrade to the roading around the Basin Reserve. Transport Minister Simeon Brown says the upgrades will save commuters around 10 minutes on journeys.

The exisiting two-lane tunnel between Wellington’s Basin Reserve and its eastern suburbs is a bottleneck and National promised during its election campaign it would begin work on a second option during its parliamentary term. Brown said forecasted population growth across the region was expected to increase travel demand across the network, and “without improvements within 10 years the region could be looking at travel time increases of up to 50% between Ngauranga and the airport”..