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

  • Canadian government invests in ITS at the Port of Halifax
    April 24, 2013
    As part of its ITS Strategic Plan for Canada, En Route to Intelligent Mobility, the Government of Canada has announced federal funding for new technology development at the Port of Halifax, including an integrated port logistics system and the bridge air gap system. With larger ships accessing the port, there is a need to continuously monitor vessel clearances under each of the harbour bridges. The upgrading and enhancing of the bridge air gap system will enable the port to identify exactly the ship clearan
  • Smoothing the path to reducing traffic pollution
    October 22, 2014
    David Crawford reviews a new approach to traffic smoothing. A key objective for the Californian city of Bakersfield’s upgraded traffic operations centre (TOC), which opened in June 2014, is to help improve living conditions in a region with one of the worst air quality problems in the US. The TOC is speeding up the smoothing of traffic flows by delivering faster and better-informed traffic signal retiming and synchronisation.
  • ITS Australia Awards 2025 finalists announced
    November 13, 2024

    ITS Australia has announced 32 finalists for the 15th Annual ITS Australia Awards, with winners announced at a ceremony on 13 February 2025 in Perth, Western Australia.

  • London's new £19bn transit line opens
    May 24, 2022
    Elizabeth Line speeds up east-west travel in the UK capital and its surrounding areas