Vic Park Tunnel speeding towards early finish

Drivers can start using Auckland's Victoria Park Tunnel in central Auckland this November, months earlier than planned, as the NZ Transport Agency's $340 million project to ease motorway congestion in the central city area heads towards an early finish.

The opening of two of the three lanes in the 450 m long tunnel in November is three months earlier than originally planned. The entire project, including the widening of State Highway 1 through St Marys Bay and the reconfiguration of the existing Victoria Park viaduct to carry four southbound lanes of traffic, is due to be completed next March, two months ahead of schedule.

The Rob Roy Hotel on its 'crawl' back to its original location – only now it is resting on the roof of the southern portal of the new tunnel, which can be seen below the site

“This is a very important project for Auckland, and we're delighted that we can start delivering the first stage of benefits in terms of more reliable and safer journeys for drivers months earlier than we had planned,” says the NZTA's state highways manager for Auckland, Tommy Parker.

On-ramp closure

Mr Parker says the key to the tunnel's early opening is the planned closure in May of the Wellington Street onramp, which links the central CBD with the northbound lanes of SH1. During the seven-month-long closure, a new on-ramp will be built and construction of the southern portal of the tunnel completed.

“There is still much work to be done, including fitting out the tunnel, but the closure will give our project partners the time to bring forward their construction timetable above ground and complete critical works,” he says.

The Wellington Street onramp will be closed from 2 May. Mr Parker says that the closure of the same onramp for three-and-a-half months last year did not have a significant impact on CBD streets, and motorway traffic flows actually improved.

Rob Roy Hotel returned

The Rob Roy Hotel, one of three heritage sites that have been preserved and restored as part of the Victoria Park Tunnel project, was safely returned to its original site opposite Victoria Park mid- April after being shifted temporarily last year to make way for construction of the tunnel. The total cost of both moves was $2.5 million.

“The team behind the move have shown a lot of innovation and skill to preserve a heritage building that is important to Auckland and New Zealand,” Mr Parker says. “Brick buildings of this age were not built to be moved around a couple of times, and it's a really pleasing result that everyone can be proud of.”

The heritage brick building was pulled and pushed 44 m by a series of hydraulic jacks over two days and is now sitting on the site where it was built 125 years ago, except that is now resting on the roof of the southern portal of the new tunnel.

Mr Parker says the NZTA and its partners on the Victoria Park Tunnel project will now refit the hotel's interior and restore water and electricity to the building. It is due to be returned to the NZTA, the owners of the Rob Roy, in August.

The NZTA will shortly be calling for expressions of interest for the future use of the hotel, and it is hoped it will continue to be a social meeting place for the community. The area around the hotel will be landscaped as a plaza.

About the project

The Victoria Park Tunnel project was the first of the government's seven roads of national significance (RoNS) to start construction. It will support economic growth by reducing congestion, improving safety and journey times, and increasing the capacity of State Highway 1 between the Auckland Harbour Bridge and Newmarket, one of the country's busiest freight and business routes.

The project includes:

• A tunnel beside the Victoria Park viaduct for three northbound lanes of traffic
• Reconfiguring the existing viaduct to carry four southbound lanes
• An additional motorway lane in each direction plus a citybound bus lane through St Marys Bay
• Capacity and operation improvements at the Fanshawe Street motorway interchange, including extending the moveable lane barrier on the harbour bridge to Fanshawe Street.