While Te Aranui o Te Rangihaeata – Transmission Gully has been open to the public since March 2022 and continues to provide good, safe service and important regional resilience, the project remains incomplete.
As a result, Ventia’s role has commenced but not in full.
Ventia’s role is currently limited to the 24/7 operation of the motorway, which includes providing corridor and traffic management, incident response, and some maintenance (e.g. median barrier repairs, etc.).
Ventia works closely with the road builder (CPB Contractors and HEB Construction Joint Venture) to manage planned works in a safe manner that minimises any disruption for travellers, as well as working alongside the Wellington Transport Alliance and Wellington Transport Operations Centre.
Serious accidents will always involve emergency services.
It’s important to remember that the Transmission Gully motorway has been designed and built to be highly resilient and safety will continue to be paramount.
There are 22 CCTV cameras along Transmission Gully that are monitored by Ventia’s team of motorway operators, who work alongside the Wellington Transport Operations Centre. They are there to keep an eye on the motorway and its interchanges/intersections. If they detect anything that could affect traffic flow and safety of other road users (e.g. slow or stopped vehicles, crashes, irregular driver behaviour, debris on the road, etc.), Ventia’s on-road Incident Response Service (IRS) will attend.
Ventia’s Incident Response Service (IRS) team only operates and monitors the Transmission Gully motorway. It is responsible for clearing incidents, maintaining traffic flow/reducing traffic congestion and the risk of follow-on incidents.
If your car breaks down on Transmission Gully, the IRS team will respond and can arrange for it to be towed off the motorway. Where necessary, the IRS team will also move vehicles that are illegally stopped or blocking traffic.
The IRS team also assists emergency services (New Zealand Police, Fire and Emergency New Zealand and/or Wellington Free Ambulance) with the safe and timely management of serious incidents, including setting up signage and managing traffic flow around the scene. Once emergency services have left the scene, the IRS team will assist with clearing debris and re-opening lanes to get traffic moving again as quickly as possible.
To provide feedback on the IRS team, phone 0800 84 4636 (0800 TG INFO) or email info.tg@ventia.com.
Transmission Gully uses an Intelligent Transport System (ITS) to provide accurate, real-time incident detection and prompt response, and the collection of travel data. The ITS detects changes in the traffic flow using radars along the motorway.
Radar systems of this type are widely used in Europe – but are new here. It is the first full coverage radar system to be used to monitor a motorway in New Zealand.
The ITS also uses weather/visibility sensors, accelerometers for measuring seismic activity and CCTV cameras, among other devices to help Ventia operate the motorway safely.
Ventia will then direct their IRS team to where it is needed on the motorway, whether it’s for a breakdown or other incident.
Once the motorway is completed, and the project is no longer in the construction phase, Ventia’s full operations and maintenance role will commence.
At that time, Ventia will be responsible for maintaining good operating conditions of the motorway by providing:
At the end of their contract with Wellington Gateway Partnership (and when WGP’s contract with the NZ Transport Agency ends), the road will be handed over to the NZ Transport Agency to operate and maintain.
Ventia provides long-term management of critical public and private assets and infrastructure and are proud to provide maintenance services to Wellington Gateway Partnership (WGP).
If you have any concerns or questions about Transmission Gully motorway, phone 0800 844 636 (0800 TG INFO). You can also email info.tg@ventia.com.
