Auckland’s Waterview Tunnel to open

Construction work on Auckland’s US 1 billion (NZ$1.4 billion) Waterview Tunnel has been completed and the twin 2.4km-long three-lane tunnels are expected to open to traffic in early July.
June 22, 2017 Read time: 1 min

Construction work on Auckland’s US$1 billion (NZ$1.4 billion) Waterview Tunnel has been completed and the twin 2.4km-long three-lane tunnels are expected to open to traffic in early July. The tunnel is the final link in the Western Ring Route, a new 48km route linking the west of Auckland, Manukau, the city and the North Shore.

New Zealand transport minister Bridges says the Waterview Tunnel completion marks the biggest change in Auckland’s transport system since the opening of the Auckland Harbour Bridge in 1959.

Wider economic benefits are estimated to be worth US$3 million (NZ$430 million), through improved productivity and reduced travel time, and also include the creation of more than 18,000 jobs.

This latest connection in Auckland’s state highway network is expected to provide a more resilient and reliable motorway network by reducing the current dependence on State Highway 1 and the Auckland Harbour Bridge.

Related Content

  • Nottingham Ring Road improvement gets final approval
    July 5, 2013
    Work can now start on a package of measures to tackle congestion on Nottingham’s Ring Road and improve public transport in the city after receiving final approval from UK Local Transport Minister Norman Baker. The scheme was one of those given funding approval in late 2011 as part of the Spending Review process and comprises: upgrading of key junctions and selective widening; reconstruction of areas of the carriageway most in need of repair; improved facilities to help change between bus services on the mai
    Read More
  • US braces itself for congestion pain
    February 6, 2020
    Mary Scott Nabers, author of Inside the Infrastructure Revolution: A Roadmap for Building America, looks at how different US states are embracing the need for public transport investment
    Read More
  • UK fleet operators commit to taking diesel vans off roads
    September 6, 2018
    In the UK, 16 public and private sector fleet operators are to invest £40m in a bid to deploy 2,400 electric vans by 2020. The operators – which include Tesco - point to a recent study, in which the health damage caused by pollution from diesel vans has been put at £2.2bn per annum to the UK National Health Service and to society. The newly-formed consortium – called the Clean Van Commitment – is backed by the Department for Transport and led by charity Global Action Plan and energy and services group Engi
    Read More
  • Progress in talks on new Sydney toll road
    October 10, 2013
    Toll roads operator Transurban says it has made good progress in its talks with the New South Wales government on a US$2.5 billion tunnel proposal for Sydney's north. The proposed project would be a tolled motorway linking the M1 Pacific Motorway, formerly the F3 freeway, at Wahroonga to the M2 toll road at West Pennant Hills. The project involves the construction of new eight kilometre tunnel, which would be the longest tunnel of its kind in Australia. “We have made significant progress in our disc
    Read More

Highlighted Content