Soil broken, six years of Melling construction to come

Friday, 19 September 2025

Transport Minister Chris Bishop breaks ground to mark the beginning of preliminary construction work for the Melling Interchange, a major roading project in Lower Hutt expected to take six years to build.

The soil has been broken and the initial construction work on the long-awaited Melling Interchange is set to begin.

After years of hoping and planning, now comes six years of disruption as the $1.5 billion RiverLink project reshapes not only the fraught Melling intersection on State Highway 2, but relocates a train station and builds a new stop-bank that will alter the Hutt River itself.

“This is one of the best days I’ve had as an MP. Certainly the best day as minister,” said Transport Minister Chris Bishop, also the Hutt South MP.

“It’s taken quite a long time to get to this point.”

Transport Minister Chris Bishop, second from left, was joined by Hutt City Mayor Campbell Barry, second from right, Greater Wellington Regional Council chairperson Daran Ponter, right, and Fletcher Construction alliance team project director Matthew Fairweather, left, to break ground for the beginning of preliminary construction work for the Melling Interchange, a major roading project in Lower Hutt.

The Melling Interchange is one of two major road building priorities for the Government in the Wellington region. The second, an extension of the four-lane Ōtaki expressway past Levin, is expected to begin construction before Christmas.

Investment cases for other major projects mooted by the Government, including a highway from Petone to Grenada North, a Cross Valley Link across Lower Hutt, and a second Mount Victoria tunnel, are before the New Zealand Transport Authority board.

Bishop would not say if any of the investment cases had so far been approved. The board was working to determine which projects, among the wider “Roads of National Significance” programme, were of priority.

Transport Minister Chris Bishop speaks at a sod turning event for the Melling Interchange prohect.

“We'll have more to say about it soon,“ he said.

For the “sod turning” at the Melling Interchange on Friday, Bishop was joined by outgoing Hutt City mayor Campbell Barry, Greater Wellington Regional Council chairperson Daran Ponter, and Fletcher Construction’s manager for the “alliance” behind the project, Matthew Fairweather.

The customary photo opportunity marked the beginning of the construction on the project, which will replace the existing traffic light intersection on the 100kph stretch with a grade-separated interchange, and replace the bridge across the Hutt River that Bishop said was “congested” and “had it”.

The work is due to be completed in 2031, with the existing bridge to be demolished the following year.

Currently, there are some 40,000 vehicle movements through the intersection each day.

Bishop joked that his inbox was sure to fill up with complaints.

The Melling Interchange will take six years to build.

“It's going to be disruptive over the next few years.

“My sense from talking to Lower Hutt locals … they know it's in the long term best interests of the Hutt Valley.”

Melling Interchange project director Matt Hunt said one of the first jobs the public would see was the re-lining of the Western Hills sewer main, which carries sewerage from Upper Hutt.

The existing Melling Bridge intersection and intersection.

One side of Pharazyn St would be closed for two weeks before Christmas for this.

“It really starts to ramp up in 2026, on both sides of the river … We’re actually building the southbound lanes of State Highway 2 offline.”

After this, construction would move across to the existing northbound lanes.

The RiverLink project overall has a $1.5b price tag, which includes $1b in NZTA funding, $295m in Greater Wellington Regional Council funding, and $180m from the Hutt City Council.

NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has contracted infrastructure firm AECOM and Fletcher Construction for the work.

Bishop has previously expressed frustration that, due to existing consenting arrangements and potential delays to the project, NZTA had declined a regional council bid to demolish an existing, asbestos-ridden Melling train station building.

The building would instead be moved to the site of the new train station.

On Friday, Bishop said he had considered legislating to fix this issue, but it would be a “big step” to pass law to demolish a single train station.

An opportunity may arise in the coming years to change the consent conditions, he said.

Correction: This story previously said one side of the highway would be closed for upgrade of a sewerage main before Christmas. It is actually half of Pharazyn St that will be closed. (Friday, September 19, 2025 at 5.29pm)