Wellington Regional Council transport committee chair Thomas Nash Photo: Thomas Nash
The government's plan for new Wellington road tunnels need to be balanced with public transport investment, a regional councillor says.
Transport Minister Simeon Brown revealed the government's its preferred plan to lower congestion and create a faster route to the airport, including two new tunnels and grade separation at the Basin Reserve.
The first new tunnel would run under Mount Victoria, at 0.7 km long, parallel to the existing tunnel, and the second would run parallel to the existing Terrace Tunnel, measuring 0.5 km.
The government previously floated the idea of a 4km "Long Tunnel" under the city.
Govt announces preferred plans for Wellington tunnels
Wellington Regional Council transport committee chair Thomas Nash said the current plan would funnel large numbers of cars into the central city.
It was important to have investment in fast bus routes and rail routes so people did not need to use a car and get stuck in traffic in Te Aro, he said.
"We need a balanced kind of coherent package across rail, bus and road - and this is one piece of the puzzle".
Transport Minister Simeon Brown. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
Nash said the two-tunnel plan would take traffic off the Harbour Quays which support the council's proposed bus route along those roads - however he said that project did not get government funding.
The rail network needed several billion dollars investment the next 10 or 20 years to get people to and from Kāpiti, the Hutt Valley and Wairarapa, he said.
"It would be great to get that investment locked in at the same time as an investment that essentially will funnel large numbers of drivers into the central city."
Announcing the plan on Tuesday, Brown said modelling had estimated there would be a 30 percent reduction in southbound traffic across the Harbour Quays once the second Mt Victoria tunnel, Basin Reserve upgrade, and the duplicate Terrace Tunnel were all completed.
"Without improvements to this critical route, within ten years the region could be looking at travel time increases of up to 50 percent between Ngauranga and the airport."
The plan also involved grade separation - a method of reducing disruption by passing lanes over one another - around the Basin Reserve which Brown said woiuld result in significant travel time savings during peak times, reducing travel times from the northern suburbs to the CBD, hospital, and airport by approximately 10 minutes.
The changes, to be carried out by Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency, were aimed at reducing Wellington's gridlock and supporting economic growth, Brown said.
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