‘Absolutely mental’: 3500 more cars a day forecast for Wellington street

Monday, 8 December 2025

An “absolutely mental” 3500 extra daily cars are forecast to travel down a suburban Hataitai Rd under government highway plans, which have united eastern suburb councillors in opposition.

The Moxham Ave confirmation from the New Zealand Transport Agency has newly elected local councillors accusing the government accused of “torpedoing” changes on a community that does not want them.

An NZTA spokesperson confirmed its planned Wellington State Highway 1 changes – two new tunnels, a complete rewrite of how traffic gets around the Basin Reserve, three-laning Vivian St and building an overpass exchange in Hataitai – is predicted to increase Moxham Ave traffic by 47% from 7300 to 10,800 daily.

The changes will mean eastern-bound traffic from Newtown will be funnelled through the new Hataitai interchange and onto Moxham Ave while drivers from the Hataitai shops will have to travel down Moxham Ave to enter the highway via the same interchange.

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There was scope for changes following consultation, which ends on Sunday, NZTA said.

Moxham Ave runs parallel to State Highway 1, which is Ruahine St at that point. A Kilbirne School entrance is near the new interchange exit and entrance while the street has at least two churches and a shopping centre.

All Saints Hataitai Anglican church co-vicar Guy Benton said the new interchange would arrive in Hataitai directly opposite his church, completely changing the feel, the traffic, the look and safety of the street. The projected increase in traffic was “absolutely mental“, he said.

Wellington City Motukairangi/Eastern ward councillor Karl Tiefenbacher said the proposed highway changes had negative impacts on “pretty much every street” they interacted with and would cause congestion on non-highway roads from the inner city to Mount Victoria to Hataitai.

Fellow ward councillor Jonny Osborne, a Green, said the project was being done “to Wellington, not with Wellington” with little thought to the impact on local roads and residents. If it did progress, significant changes were needed to address local concerns.

'A 47% increase in traffic on Moxham Ave makes pick up and drop off at Kilbirnie School more stressful for parents, slows down our busiest bus route, and makes it more dangerous for cyclists heading to the tunnel,“ Osborne said.

The third ward councillor Sam O’Brien, of Labour, said the east wanted a solution to congestion but the government was pushing the changes through under fast-tracked legislation without considering locals.

“The only way to make the numbers stack up for travel savings times on the state highway is to make changes that will torpedo the local roading network, making it more difficult to get around for many residents,” O’Brien said.

NZTA said the works would mean Taurima St, the current right-hand turn from Hataitai shops to the tunnel, would become exit-only from the tunnel, removing a current congestion point for cars now turning right to enter the tunnel from Hataitai.

“The existing road design has safety risks and causes traffic queues back onto Moxham Ave and through the village area, which can impede the flow of buses that use the Hataitai bus tunnel to the CBD,” an emailed NZTA statement said.

Transport Minister Chris Bishop’s office would not comment above noting NZTA said changes were possible after community consultation.