Subscribe to RSSSteven Joyce Fires Up Victoria Tunnel
Steven Joyce has this morning officially marked the physical start of the Victoria Park tunnel construction project.
Preparation began a week ago around the downtown area but this morning the transport minister , Auckland Mayor John Banks and a transport agency representative held a brief ceremony to officially launch the ambitious engineering job.
Full construction of the tunnel will not start until next year but work has already begun at St Mary’s Bay between Victoria Park and the Auckland Harbour Bridge where the number of motorway lanes is being increased from four to five in both directions.
The transport ministry says the 2.4km-long project will make road travel in Auckland “faster, easier and less expensive” by eliminating a major chokepoint on one of the busiest stretches of the motorway network.
WIDENING: St Marys Bay lanes will be extended
The 440m tunnel is being created created underneath Victoria Park and the motorway widened through St Marys Bay to five lanes in each direction to double the capacity of this important inner city route.
The Minister said that without the government’s extra funding this project may never have got off the ground, and neither would the jobs and economic benefits it would bring.
At its peak, the project is expected to employ 450 people – 350 directly onsite and a further 100 downstream. Mr Joyce says that over the next three years there will be significant construction on five of the seven of these vital routes, with all seven to be substantially advanced within ten years.
Within three years:
- Victoria Park – project complete.
- Western Ring Route completion – construction started on the first stage of Waterview and the Lincoln Rd interchange.
- Waikato Expressway – work on the Te Rapa bypass underway this year and construction on the Rangiriri and Ngaruawahia sections within 3 years.
- Tauranga Eastern Motorway – construction started on the Tauranga Eastern Link (if tolling is approved).
- Christchurch Southern Motorway – construction.
- Design work continues on the Levin to Wellington corridor as does development work on the Puhoi to Wellsford section of State Highway 1.
Mr Joyce says the Roads of National Significance are being developed alongside key regional roads and public transport services, and they will help secure a step-change in economic growth for New Zealand.
8 Comments
Roads of National Congestion. End of story.
Totally agree!!! Roads of congestion!
Joyce, the motorway does not cause congestion…it is too many cars!
Give Auckland an alternative to cars and you will solve congestion.
Someone, please wake up Joyce and his team of 1950′s planners.
I’ve envisioned Auckland as a giant slab of tarmac with these policies.
What justification is being given for this ‘thing’?
George, this is actually the one roading project that does need to be completed. It actually has quite a fair justification, anything that has four lanes merging to 2 is going to have problems in the middle of the busiest transport network in New Zealand. Also the best solution was selected, better than putting in another bridge.
“The Minister said that without the government’s extra funding this project may never have got off the ground, and neither would the jobs and economic benefits it would bring.”
What bollocks, they’ve only moved it up a year… This minister’s love of telling blatant lies worries me…
Good point, but it has solved the problem possibly before the rugby world cup, which will help speed up those busses from the Northern Busway. All good in my opinon. I also reakon that he might have been right as if it wern’t possible to get it done by the world cup it would have been one of those, we don’t need it yet moments.