Skip to main content

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

  • Go-ahead for Richmond-to-Raleigh high-speed rail proposal
    September 21, 2015
    The US Department of Transportation (DOT)’s Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), the State of North Carolina and the Commonwealth of Virginia have signed off on the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the proposed Richmond to Raleigh (R2R) passenger rail line along the Southeast Corridor. The completion of the FEIS is one of the final steps necessary before construction of the project can move forward once funding is secured. The 162-mile route between the two cities would utilise existing
  • The great pay divide
    April 2, 2014
    Public acceptance is crucial for the acceptance of managed and express lanes as Jon Masters discovers. Lists of proposed highway expansion projects introducing variably priced toll lanes continue to lengthen. Managed lanes, or express lanes to some, are gaining support as a politically favourable way of adding capacity and reducing acute congestion on principal highways. In Florida, for example, the managed lanes on the 95 Express are claimed to have significantly increased average peak-time speeds on tolle
  • Centralised remote control in ports opens endless digitisation possibilities
    August 5, 2021
    Port Intelligent Twins speed up upgrades in the port & shipping industry
  • China invests in transportation infrastructure
    February 19, 2014
    Construction of the 26.4- kilometre Jinan-Changqing line of the Jinan-Liaocheng railway in China will begin during March 2014. The project includes nine stations and will cost US$2.18 billion in total, out of which US$202 million is scheduled to be invested in 2014. Meanwhile, two cross-river bridge construction projects will be kicked off in Jinan in May 2014. They include a dual-use bridge across the Yellow River that will cost US$262 million and the 13.5- kilometre Changqing Yellow River bridge, which