The four big projects which will form the basis of Wellington's transport future
Thursday, 16 May 2019
Four major infrastructure projects will headline Wellington's $6.4 billion revamped transport network.
They are roading improvements at the Basin Reserve, a mass public transport system between the railway station and airport, a second Mt Victoria tunnel, and an improved central city cycling and walking network.
Plans to construct a second Terrace Tunnel on SH1, and reconfigure the highway into a tunnel under a new city park in Te Aro, were not approved for funding.
Here's a breakdown of the major projects:
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BASIN RESERVE IMPROVEMENTS
Project: Road layout changes, possible tunnel under Sussex St
Cost: $190 million
Timeline: Road layout changes started by 2024, new road within 10 years
The proposal, aimed at 'unblocking the Basin', will eventually separate state highway and local traffic at one of Wellington's biggest choke points.
Transport Minister Phil Twyford said construction of a new road would start within the next 10 years, with some interim changes to the road layout in the short-term. It's expected those changes will commence by 2024.
A new road, likely to be a tunnel rather than a bridge, will separate north-south traffic from east-west traffic. It will also separate all traffic from the mass public transport route.
Further 'detailed investigation' will need to be done once a mass transport route around the Basin is determined.
Wellington Mayor Justin Lester said the most likely solution was for a tunnel under Sussex St towards Kent/Cambridge Terrace.
The proposal comes after plans for a Basin Reserve flyover were scuppered by a board of inquiry in 2014.
MASS PUBLIC TRANSPORT
Project: Mass transit system from railway station to Newtown and the airport
Cost: $2.2 billion
Timeline: Railway to Newtown, 2024 to 2029; Newtown to airport, after 2029
A possible route has been mapped out from Wellington Railway Station, along the waterfront quays, up Taranaki St, and past the Basin Reserve to Wellington Regional Hospital in Newtown.
A second stage of construction would see the route extended through Kilbirnie to Wellington Airport.
Transport Minister Phil Twyford said light rail had not been locked in as the preferred technology, despite the $2.2b price tag being significantly more than would be needed for the other options being considered - trackless trams or a rapid bus route.
'I wouldn't assume that,. It's an indicative allocation [of funding], and we're workng through all of those options.'
The mass transit system would run every 10 minutes or less. It's expected there will be 90 fewer public transport vehicles, excluding rail, on the road in the morning peak by 2036, but those vehicles would carry 6000 more people.
In any case, it's understood the Let's Get Wellington Moving group is seeking to fast-track approval of the route so it can be locked in before the next general election.
The final route would partly depend on the type of technology chosen.
The group has spoken of the need to take into account rapidly changing technology and the possibility of new forms of mass transit.
SECOND MT VICTORIA TUNNEL
Project: Second tunnel + Ruahine St/Wellington Rd widening
Cost: $700 million
Timeline: Work under way within the next 10 years
The second tunnel would run adjacent to the existing tunnel through Mt Victoria, and would include a cycleway and walkway, and widened Ruahine St and Wellington Rd.
Estimates suggest it would reduce travel time between the Wellington CBD and airport by 40 per cent, and would not encourage more people to drive.
The second tunnel would move local traffic on Evans Bay waterfront and Constable St onto SH1.
The New Zealand Transport Agency already owns 31 properties, purchased many decades ago, for the purpose of building a second tunnel.
A pilot tunnel was built in the 1970s but was never constructed.
The swathe of NZTA-owned properties cuts east from the south of Cambridge Terrace, through a trio of houses at the southern end of Brougham St, and up the northern side of Paterson St to Austin St.
It re-emerges in Hataitai at the southern end of Moxham Ave, to some sections of Wellington Rd and Kilbirnie Crescent.
CYCLEWAYS AND WALKWAYS
Project: Network of cycleways and walkways connecting to cycleways in north and south
Timeline: By 2024
Cost: Cycleways $40 million; Walking improvements $95 million
A revamped cycling network will include new cycleways on Featherston St, Thorndon Quay, Courtenay Place, Dixon St, Taranaki St, Willis St, Victoria St, Kent/Cambridge Terrace, and Bowen St, Vivian St, and Adelaide Rd.
There will also be walking and cycling access across Cobham Drive on SH1, and safer speed limits on SH1 east of Mt Victoria.
Between 2024 and 2029, there will be dedicated walking and cycling access through Mt Victoria.
There will be significant removal of on-street parking through the central city and along main routes to the south, east, and north, with up to 1500 car parks affected.
Lester said there would be 30kmh speed zones in the CBD excluding the waterfront quays and main arterial routes.
There will be wider footpaths, improved crossings, and more priority, shelter, signage and lighting throughout the central city.
MISSED THE CUT
Plans to build a second Terrace Tunnel on SH1, and reconfigure the highway into a tunnel under a new city park in Te Aro, did not receive Government approval.