Wellington traffic and transport funding woes in the 1990s

This post is a series of articles from 1990 through to 1999 discussing the issues and funding of roads and urban transport more generally in Wellington.

This article from 1990 reflects the cuts in funding in the last budget under the Fourth Labour Government, at the time under Geoffrey Palmer, which provided $153m less funding that Transit New Zealand sought.  Projects threatened (and delayed) were:

• Korokoro/Petone upgrade to SH2 (which was not undertaken until the late 1990s)
• Fergusson Drive median barriers Upper Hutt City (which did not proceed)
• Cable Street extension Wellington (which did proceed to create the one-way system with Wakefield Street)
• Ramp Bridge replacement Porirua, SH1 (which proceeded in the late 1990s.

This feature by Kate Coughlan in The Dominion describes the major traffic problems in Wellington in the 1990s.  It concludes that there is unlikely to be any significant relief. It summarises some of the issues of driving in the morning peak and follow by a map with traffic figures describing the main choke points. 

This summary is a fair report of the key traffic bottlenecks across the region in 1996.  To review where these now are in 2013:

• Paremata-Pukerua Bay: The proposed solution at the time was implemented, with a second Paremata Bridge, clearways, traffic lights through to Plimmerton and four-laning through Plimmerton.  This relieved congestion at this location, but Pukerua Bay became the major bottleneck. This was addressed long-term with the Transmission Gully motorway, although the forecast it would be open by 2006 proved to be more than a decade out.
• SH2:  In 1996 the problems were the intersections at Korokoro and Melling. The best solution mooted was the Cross Valley Link (which has not yet been built), but the proposed solution was grade separation at Korokoro, Dowse Drive and Melling.  Korokoro and Dowse Drive were built in the early 2000s, but Melling although funded is yet to commence construction.  In 2023, Melling remains a major bottleneck, but north of Manor Park, SH2 is particularly slow in the AM peak.
• Mungavin Avenue: In 1996, the Mungavin Roundabout queued back to Cannons Creek. As reported, the solution was a duplicate Mungavin Bridge, which was built in 1998 and addressed the bottleneck.
• Newlands lights:  The busiest traffic light controlled intersection on SH1 was a major bottleneck, but as reported, the Newlands Interchange had been funded and would permanently relieve this bottleneck. 
• Wellington city motorway offramps: Not specific on the ramps, but noted that policy was to discourage car commuting into the CBD, and encourage public transport use by sustaining subsidies for rail and bus services.  This appears largely to have succeeded as traffic to the Wellington CBD in the AM peak has been flat for over 20 years.
• Karori Road:  The Karori Tunnel and Karori Road were bottlenecks with very slow traffic at the time and this has not changed. The best solution at the time was said to be to widen Karori Road and duplicate the tunnel, but the expected solution was a bus lane.  The outcome was the Chaytor Street bus lane, which is soon to be removed to accommodate an uphill cycle lane under Let's Get Wellington Moving.  Karori Tunnel remains a bottleneck.
• Mt Victoria Tunnel/Basin Reserve:  The 1996 bottleneck was traffic exiting Mt Victoria Tunnel to the Basin Reserve, and from Adelaide Road. The preferred solution was grade-separation at the Basin Reserve, but planned solution was traffic signals. In 2023, the Basin Reserve is a major bottleneck, as is the tunnel. 
• Terrace Tunnel to Mt Victoria Tunnel: Congestion between the two tunnels was chronic in the 1990s with the dog-leg route between the tunnels.  The preferred solution was to duplicate the tunnels and connect them with the proposed cut-and-cover motorway extension. However, what was expected was the "Inner City Bypass" of Karo Drive with a one-way system. This was expected to be completed by 2000, but did not finish until 2007.  In 2023, the two tunnels are major bottlenecks, and Vivian Street/Karo Drive are regularly congested at peak times.
• The Merge (SH2/SH1 Ngauranga): This was described as caused by incompetent driving and the solution was Police presence at the site encouraging better behaviour.  In 2023, the issue remains although northbound in the PM peak, the addition of a fourth lane from Aotea Quay has greatly eased congestion in that direction.

Evening Post 25 June 1996

Meanwhile, the Business Roundtable believed that the time was right to end public transport subsidies, and that the Wellington Regional Council should progressively reduce such subsidies and ensure services paid their own way, and allow more bus services to compete with rail. These proposals were not taken up.

The Evening Post editorial of 22 June 1996 focused on transport funding in Wellington, noting that the $930m wishlist of the Regional Council for roads and public transport would take 180 years to be funded, at the levels available at the time. At the time it included Transmission Gully, a major upgrade to the Rimutaka Hill Road and replacing the old electric multiple units with light rail.  It had proposed a tax on inner city carparks, which did not proceed. The Evening Post proposed that money directed from fuel tax to the Crown account be put into the National Roading Fund.  Ultimately this did happen, but not until after 2008. Subsequently Transmission Gully was funded, along with some upgrades to the Rimutaka Hill Road, but it was decided that light rail was not a viable replacement for the English Electric EMUs in Wellington, and Korean-built "Matangi" units. 

Evening Post 06 September 1996

The Wellington Regional Council transport committee discussed in 1996 the idea of putting a toll on SH1 Ngauranga Gorge to raise money to fund its proposed transport programme. Noting that the only elements of transport in Wellington it has authority to fund are public transport as it is not a road controlling authority.  The proposal would have charged $1 for traffic entering Wellington via the Ngauranga Interchange.  It received widespread opposition and no support from Government, and did not proceed.

Evening Post 22 June 1997

Trucking lobby group, the Road Transport Association (RTA) was highly critical of transport policies in Wellington in 1997, including the specific policy of not increasing the capacity of highways entering Wellington from the north.  Former Minister of Works and Chief Executive of the RTA, Tony Friedlander, was critical of the ruling out of extra capacity between Ngauranga and Petone (which at the time was planned to be a third southbound lane from Horokiwi to Ngauranga using the space of the current cycleway). This had been opposed by the Regional Council.  

The article also notes that trolley buses were to be phased out in five years (which did not occur for another 15 years), and the Wellington Regional Council wanted to tax carparks in Wellington, Hutt and Upper Hutt and Porirua cities.

The above article discussed proposals to four-lane Johnsonville Road from Ngauranga Gorge to the Moorefield Road roundabout.  The land was designated to enable widening, and was proposed to relieve congestion from through traffic adjacent to the retail precinct.  The proposal generated strong opinions in favour and against, but other options were also mentioned, including converting Johnsonville Road to a mall and building a new motorway interchange at Helston Road (to remove through traffic), both ruled out due to cost.  

Evening Post 30 April 1999

The Evening Post in 1999 reported on the draft Land Transport Strategy of the Wellington Regional Council, which was essentially its wishlist of road and public transport projects for the region. Statistics NZ reported that car commuting was falling across the region, with public transport patronage growing.  Proposed projects for roads were:

• Kapiti Western Link Road (not built, replaced by Kapiti Expressway)
• Mackays Crossing overbridge (built in the early 2000s)
• Transmission Gully (completed in 2022)
• Pauatahanui Bridge upgrade (completed in late 1990s)
• SH1 improvements Paremata-Pukerua Bay (completed in early 2000s)
• Rimutaka Hill Road upgrades (some completed in 2010s)
• Kaitoke realignment (completed in 2000s)
• SH58/SH2 interchange (completed in 2016)
• Petone Esplanade upgrade (not undertaken)
• SH2 Petone-Ngauranga bus lane (not undertaken)
• Karori bus lane (completed in late 1990s)
• Inner City Bypass and Adelaide Road upgrade (Stage 2 bypass completed 2007, Adelaide Road upgrade did not proceed)

Public transport projects proposed were:

• Electrification to Waikanae (completed 2011)
• Raumati station (never built)
• Upgrades to Petone, Upper Hutt and Paraparaumu stations
• Porirua to Hutt bus service (trialled in 1990s but cancelled due to lack of patronage)
• Bus priority signals and lanes in central Wellington (lanes built)
• New bus-rail interchange at Wellington station (built in 2000s)
• Pedestrian covers in central Wellington streets (some built in 2000s)

The Regional Council also proposed light rail from Plimmerton to Whitby (which has not proceeded), between Melling and Waterloo stations (which has not proceeded) and to investigate light rail from Wellington station to the BNZ centre (southern end of Lambton Quay) (the latter is proposed as part of Let's Get Wellington Moving, but extended to Island Bay). 

Evening Post 30 June 1998 and 26 April 1999

These two articles reflect actual funding provided in 1998 and the Wellington Regional Council's proposed Land Transport Strategy in 1999. 

The 1998 article noted that the 1998-1999 National Roading Programme reduced funding for Wellington by 25% from the previous year, although total funding nationally increased by 6.2%.  The reason being that fewer construction work was funded for the 1998-1999 year, because of most of the completion of the Newlands Interchange.  Future construction projects were in the investigation and design stage, specifically the Dowse Drive/Korokoro upgrade on SH2, Kapiti Western Link Road, Karori bus lane and the Daly St extension to Queens Drive, Hutt City.  It was expected those projects would start the following year, but the first two did not.  Funding was provided for completion of the Newlands Interchange. Thorndon motorway viaduct earthquake strengthening, Kapiti Rd SH1 intersection upgrade.

 The article on the right saw the WRC propose to be undertaken between 1999 and 2004:

• Bus lane on SH2 from Horokiwi to Ngauranga (did not proceed in favour of upgrading cycle lane)
• Fourth lane on the Urban Motorway from Ngauranga to Aotea Quay with movable median barrier (did not proceed due to technical difficulties)
• Korokoro-Dowse Drive upgrade/interchange (completed late 2000s)
• Upgrade to Rimutaka Hill Road (Wellington side largely completed)
• Stage 2 Inner City Bypass (opened 2007)

It also proposed projects to be undertaken beyond 2004:

• Transmission Gully (opened 2022) said to cost $245m
• Kapiti Western Link Road (superseded by Kapiti Expressway) estimated at $24m
• Hutt to Porirua link road (not built and not pursued) estimated at $62m
• Upgrading Petone Esplanade (not built)
• Melling and Kennedy Good Interchanges (Melling funding approved in 2022) estimated at $33m

Karori bus lane and Karori Tunnel centenary and possible duplication

Wellington's suburb of Karori has two routes out towards the city, one via Kelburn and down Aro Valley, and another through the Karori Tunnel opened in 1900. The population of Karori at the time was 1,100, today it is around 17,000 people.  A tram line was extended through the tunnel in 1907, but replaced with trolley buses in 1954. There have been various proposals to build a second Karori Tunnel to the south or north of the current tunnel, removing the Glenmore Street hairpin curve, or to connect to Aro Street, but none proceeded far.

The first article is from 1996 when the idea of a bus lane approaching the Karori Tunnel was first floated, and in 1997 Wellington City Council formally proposes the Chaytor Street bus lane approaching from the west.  The feasibility study indicated congestion added 20 minutes to the bus trip from Karori Park to Karori Tunnel in the AM peak.  The cost of the project was estimated at $450,000 with a BCR of 22:1.  The lane proposed was along parts of Karori Road (those sections would not proceed).  The lane was subsequently built, but is now proposed to be removed to make way for an uphill cycling lane.

The last article commemorates the centenary of the Karori Tunnel. Notably it indicates that a second Karori Tunnel is "scheduled" to be built within the next decade (i.e. by 2010) to run parallel to the existing tunnel, and could probably be funded by tolls. It was then estimated to cost $30-40m.  It was noted it was a major bottleneck but traffic lights would not be installed (traffic lights have subsequently been installed to manage bus traffic through the narrow tunnel).

In 2023 there is no second Karori Tunnel being pursued by Wellington City Council.

Wellington traffic congestion in 1988 and proposed funding reforms

In 1988 the Dominion ran a major story about traffic congestion in Wellington which reviewed what might be done about it.  It followed on from proposals from Minister Bill Jefferies to combine road and public transport funding and also reflected the view at the time that the future for Wellington transport was not to seek to respond entirely to the growth in car traffic. It noted at the time that 42% of commuters to central Wellington travelled by public transport.  At the time buses in Wellington were provided by Wellington City Transport, which was a WCC owned monopoly, and in the Hutt/Porirua and Kapiti most bus services were provided by Cityline (NZR Road Services), noting that the Ministry of Transport had proposed opening up bus services to competition. 

It was noted that public transport had to be made more attractive, but it was also claimed that within two years (1990) the motorway extension from the Terrace Tunnel to Mt Victoria Tunnel would be started as it was the "highest priority" road project in the Wellington region, following completion of the Mungavin Interchange on SH1 at Porirua.  Of course, the motorway extension did not proceed following the land transport funding and governance reforms of 1989, and the significant cut in funding provided in 1991 that saw the project fail to meet the funding threshold.  The WCC's analysis also suggested a second Terrace Tunnel had good economic benefits but this was seen as a "low priority" regionally (under a funding model that relied on local authorities in the region agreeing on priority projects. 

Ultimately this story was inconclusive, and there would be future articles highlighting the lack of progress in addressing congestion in Wellington.

The article notes the Greater Wellington Land use and Transportation Strategic Review that would also consider whether Transmission Gully would be worth pursuing, but at the time the Transmission Gully proposal was meant to end at Belmont in the Hutt on SH2, which was seen to be adding significantly to congestion on SH2 more generally.  Transmission Gully would be revised in the 1990s to connect to SH1 first at Takapu Road Tawa and later at its current location.  Congestion pricing (called road tolls) was not being considered seriously. 

The article below notes that afternoon accidents cause more congestion than morning ones, but that severe congestion results in few serious accidents because slow traffic causes only minor collisions. Another article confirms Minister Bill Jefferies wanting land transport funding to include public transport, and for motorists to also fund road safety education and enforcement.  MoT had also proposed opening up profitable public transport routes to competition and requiring competitive tendering for subsidised routes (which was ultimately implemented).  Noting that public transport recovers 50-55% of operating costs from fares, with the remainder split between central and local government.  A short article notes the Hutt City Mayor of the time wanting more Wellington offices to relocate to Lower Hutt.  

Overall the conclusions were very open ended. While the motorway extension was expected to make a difference, overall the focus was on changes to the funding system and considering how to make public transport more competitive with driving.

Courtenay Place upgrade 1996

Given the soon to begin "Golden Mile" works along the route from Courtenay Place along to Lambton Quay in Wellington, this article from 1996 for the last major upgrade of Courtenay Place may be timely.  The works consisted of:

• Simplification of the intersection between Courtenay Place, Kent/Cambridge Tce and Majoribanks St
• Removal of the two "island" bus stops, replaced with side located stops (associated also with the redesign of many Wellington bus routes to be through routes between suburbs, rather than services from Western and Northern suburbs terminating at Courtenay Place)
• New footpaths and a large pedestrian area on the south-eastern end of Courtenay Place, with significant narrowing of the loadspace to enable wider footpaths.

The old island bus stops while providing free flow conditions for buses moving east along Courtenay Place, were also considered a hazard to pedestrians, due to the tendency of some unsociable and intoxicated people to reside in the shelters, frightening some bus passengers. The new design opened up Courtenay Place more generally, although the angled parking at the south-eastern end was removed some years later.

The total project cost around $2m in 1996.

Momentum - Works Consultancy client magazine January/February 1996

The document muncher

As you can see the below magazine I was planning to scan has signs of teeth, in that the miniature dachshund above has chewed at it.  It's my fault for leaving it on the ground of course! So apologies if all the content is not clear!

Claudelands Bridge

Wellington Inner City Bypass

Wellington Inner City Bypass

Whangamoa Saddle

In 1996 the former Ministry of Works had been corporatised some years beforehand into an entity commonly called WorksCorp, but was officially the Works and Development Services Corporation.  This edition of its magazine I have selectively scanned for the articles on roads, but the first page (which was the last) also refers to its imminent privatisation.  It was sold as a going concern that year and became part of Opus Group. 

The articles in this edition include:

• Strengthening of the Claudelands Bridge in Hamilton City (which was originally the railway bridge for the East Coast Main Trunk Railway)
• Planning for the Stage 2 of the Wellington Inner City Bypass (later known as Karo Drive)
• Construction of the Whangamoa deviation on SH6 in Marlborough

Wellington Urban Motorway extension - Inner City Bypass - Tunnellink

 

Cut and cover tunnel for Wellington Inner City Bypass

With proposals for a second Mt Victoria Tunnel included under Let's Get Wellington Moving and more recently from the National Party's 2023 transport policy, I thought I'd start a series on the Wellington Urban Motorway, which won't be in any specific order, as I have a lot of material on it.  The first article from July 1992, in the former free newspaper "Contact" about the decision by Wellington City Council and Transit New Zealand to play the motorway extension (technically not a motorway but an arterial extension with a 70km/h design speed) into a cut and cover tunnel.  It was previously proposed to go under Willis and Victoria Streets, be at grade across Cuba Street and elevated over Taranaki Street, under Tory Street and Sussex Street. 1.1km of the road would be underground, enabling use of the land above it (although there appears not to have been much calculation of the benefit of doing this).  The proposal also included a "scrubber" to remove noxious particulates and gases from the tunnel exhaust.

The Cut and cover proposal would be coined "Tunnellink" subsequently (to link Terrace and Mt. Victoria Tunnels), but did not include duplicating either of the tunnels, as it was believed there was adequate capacity with those tunnels for some time (and noting that completing the extension would help improve tunnel traffic flow in one direction at least). 

Note the estimated cost in 1992 was only $135m ($281m in 2023 values) which is a far cry from estimates today for a similar project. Note also the depiction of a park in front of the carillon, which reflects that the Arras Tunnel and War Memorial were built around 15 years later than this proposal, but the Arras Tunnel is around the size of more than half of the cut and cover tunnel depicted above.

Financial headaches along the motorway

Financial headaches along the motorway

This second article from the Dominion on September 1993 focuses on the issues with proceeding with the new proposal, including obtaining planning approvals, and also has a short history about the Wellington Urban Motorway.  This included the redesign to be predominantly trenched and then the cut and cover tunnel.  The report also noted that after the extension gets built, a second Terrace Tunnel would be necessary (as the single lane southbound will remain inadequate, and northbound three lanes merge into two). The price for the second Terrace Tunnel was estimated at $63m ($131m in 2023) which also is significantly cheaper than today's construction costs.

Also reported were variations in BCR calculations. A BCR of 20:1 was estimated in 1992, but that had dropped to 2.33:1.  Bear in mind the funding threshold at the time was a threshold of 5:1. Ultimately it was that funding threshold that saw this proposal deferred in favour of the now built Karo Drive "Stage 2" Inner City Bypass. 

Bypass could cut accidents by a third

This final article  from the Evening Post includes a short piece about Wellington City Council backing the extension, but also a report displaying the entire route and claims it would have significant safety benefits by cutting reported accidents by one-third. Noting the design would have retained Ghuznee St as an offramp and Vivian St as an onramp (one way from Taranaki St only), eastbound onramp from Victoria St and offramp westbound, with an eastbound offramp towards Cambridge Tce and another to Dufferin St (for traffic heading towards Adelaide Rd), an onramp from Sussex St westbound (akin to the Arras Tunnel arrangement) and finally eastbound onramp and westbound offramp from Mt Victoria Tunnel. 

National Land Transport Programme 1996 - Wellington regional office (Wellington, Nelson, Tasman, Marlborough)

 

Top n Tales August 1995

NLTP 1996 - Wellington regional allocation

NLTP 1996 - Wellington state highway and local road projects

Top n Tales August 1995

The Wellington regional office newsletter covering the 1996 NLTP covers both Wellington and the Nelson/Tasman/Marlborough region's funding from Transit New Zealand.  Funding for the NLTP was nearly $47.4m for Wellington and $24.4m for Nelson/Tasman/Marlborough.

Wellington was noted as having the second highest allocation for passenger transport at just over $10m, with the remainder of funding slightly higher for state highways than for local roads. Nelson/Tasman/Marlborough's funding was predominantly for state highways. 

By far the biggest project in the Wellington region was the Newlands Interchange on SH1, which removed the last set of traffic lights on SH1 out of Wellington until the end of the motorway beyond the Mungavin Interchange.  Also of note was funding for the first stage of the Wellington Inner City Bypass, which simply converted Buckle Street and Vivian Street into a one-way pair east of Taranaki Street (feeding onto Vivian and Ghuznee Streets respectively).  It would be nearly ten years before the second stage of the Inner City Bypass would be funded, due to vocal opposition. The largest local road project in Wellington region was reconstruction of the Kent/Cambridge Terrace/Courtenay Place intersection (which is now due to be reconstructed again following decisions in Let's Get Wellington Moving). 

In Nelson/Tasman/Marlborough by far the biggest project was funding for seal extensions in Marlborough and Tasman. The largest state highway project in that region was the committed Whangamoa North Deviation on SH6.