This Road of National Significance project will create efficient and reliable journeys through Wellington City, supporting productivity gains and economic growth across the region.
The SH1 Wellington Improvements project has been identified in the Government Policy Statement on land transport (GPS 2024) as a Road of National Significance (RoNS), to unlock economic growth in the Wellington region. The next stages of work, to investigate and design the project, have been included in the National Land Transport Programme 2024-2027.
The 4-week community engagement on the proposed design ended on 14 December 2025. Extensive engagement continues with our mana whenua partners, councils, landowners, and other key stakeholders.
This page will be updated as the project stages progress.
The SH1 Wellington Improvements Road of National Significance (RoNS) project will alleviate some of Wellington’s longstanding bottlenecks delivering faster and more reliable state highway journeys and driving regional economic growth. It includes a second Terrace Tunnel, a second Mount Victoria Tunnel, a major roading upgrade at the Basin Reserve, and improvements to the state highway corridor through central Wellington and through Hataitai and Kilbirnie.
Having an efficient and reliable state highway network is critical to Wellington. It provides people from across the region with access to business, employment and education hubs in central Wellington, as well as Wellington International Airport and Wellington Regional Hospital.
SH1 through Wellington city is already heavily congested at peak times causing delays and unpredictable journey times and increasing traffic on local roads as people seek alternative routes. Without investment, as the regional population grows, travel times and reliability will worsen, hampering productivity and restricting economic growth.
In August 2025, the NZTA Board endorsed an investment case for the SH1 Wellington Improvements project and approved funding for the next phase of the project’s development.
This project is listed in the Fast-track Approvals Act 2024.
Key features of the proposed design include:
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Close2016 – Let’s Get Wellington Moving (LGWM) Partnership is formed to consider a city-wide transport plan including plans for improvements to SH1 from Ngauranga to the Airport.
2018 – LGWM Programme Business Case is finalised, including recommendation to upgrade the Basin Reserve and Mt Victoria Tunnel.
2021-2022 – Indicative Business Case is developed for the LGWM Transformational Programme which includes the Basin Reserve and Mt Victoria Tunnel upgrades. Detailed Business Case phase begins.
December 2023 – Ministers, Mayor of Wellington and Chair of Greater Wellington Regional Council agree to end the LGWM partnership structure.
April 2024 – At the request of the Minister of Transport, NZTA begin work to assess the feasibility of a Long Tunnel from north of the Terrace Tunnel to Kilbirnie as an alternative to improve efficiency and reliability of State Highway 1 through Wellington.
July 2024 – Project identified in the GPS as a Road of National Significance.
October 2024 – Project included in the draft Fast-track Approvals Bill.
October 2024 – NZTA Board endorse the preferred option for the project, which includes a duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and an upgrade to the Basin Reserve, as well as a duplicate Terrace Tunnel. Investment case phase begins.
August 2025 – NZTA Board endorse the investment case for the project and approve funding for the pre-implementation phase of development.
November 2025 – Community engagement on the proposed design opened for 4 weeks, including 6 drop-in community information sessions.
December 2025 – Community engagement closed. Extensive engagement on the proposed design continues with our mana whenua partners, councils, landowners, and other key stakeholders.
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