Work has started on a Homer Tunnel upgrade aimed in part at resolving safety issues highlighted when a car caught fire in the middle of the tunnel this year.
Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
Southland's 1.2km-long Homer Tunnel is undergoing a $25 million safety upgrade which is expected to take several years to complete.
The first work to get under way is $3m worth of safety improvements, after an investigation into a car fire in the tunnel recommended it in January.
Transport Agency Waka Kotahi system manager Graeme Hall said work completed included an upgrade to the tunnel power system and lighting, and new speakers to allow communication if people were stuck in the tunnel during an emergency.
A new protected duct was also being built along the full length of the tunnel to protect cabling, fibre and other systems during a fire, Hall said.
Over the next year, an extra lane will be built for better management of traffic during winter, and more sophisticated in-tunnel vehicle detection systems.
Hall said the remaining $22m safety funding would be spent on one of three options all aimed at improving safety in case of a fire.
Those options are a pedestrian refuge for people to escape a fire, a forced ventilation system to reduce the spread of a fire, or a deluge system to limit and contain a fire.
Hall said whatever option was chosen it would be large and complex work needing significant design, consenting and other approvals, and was likely to be delivered over a two to three years.