Timeline

1940

First talk of an inland alternative route for State Highway 1 (SH1) to bypass the coastal areas north of Wellington.

1990

Region acknowledged that scale of the project and limited available funding would not allow construction through traditional funding mechanisms and priorities.

17 July 1996

Designation sought to include the proposed route in the District Plans of Wellington City Council, Porirua City Council, Kapiti District Council and Upper Hutt City Council.

30 July 1997

Designation approved subject to certain terms and conditions.

12 September 1997

Transit New Zealand notified its decision accepting the Designation recommendations with minor modifications.

July 2005

Minister of Transport announced $405 million funding towards addressing road transport reliability between MacKay's Crossing and Linden in the Wellington Western Corridor.

October 2005

Transit New Zealand and the Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC) consulted with the public over the future of the land transport network on the Wellington Western Corridor.

April 2006

Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC) voted to include the Transmission Gully project in the Wellington Western Corridor Plan for adoption in the draft 2005-2009 Regional Land Transport Strategy

May 2006

New Zealand Government appropriated $80 million in Budget 2006 to fund the investigation and preliminary design work for the project.

June 2006

Transit New Zealand's 10-year State Highway Forecast showed Transmission Gully's investigation as a top priority for the region subject to the region agreeing on a funding plan.

12 October 2006

Land Transport NZ approved $9.2 million in funding for investigation of the Transmission Gully project during 2006/07. This allocation is part of the Budget 2006 appropriation of $80 million.

18 October 2006

The Cabinet Policy Committee agreed to a $405 million crown contribution to improve road access in the Wellington Western Corridor.

31 October 2006

The Greater Wellington Regional Land Transport Committee agreed to a Draft Regional Land Transport Strategy (RLTS) for consultation which included Transmission Gully in the 10-year transport programme but noted a significant funding gap for the project.

22 December 2006

The first of five contracts awarded for the Stage 1 Investigations and Preliminary Design phase of the Transmission Gully project. Traffic modelling contract awarded to Sinclair Knight Merz.

23 January 2007

Road Safety Audit contract awarded to MWH.

14 May 2007

  • Preliminary geotechnical assessment contract awarded to Opus International Consultants.
  • Cost, risk and value engineering assessment contract awarded to a second team from Opus International Consultants.

18 July 2007

Scheme Assessment Contract awarded to a consortia led by Opus International Consultants. Other consortia partners are GHD, Holmes Consulting Group and Boffa Miskell.

6 August 2007

Contract awarded to Excell Corporation to plant 62,000 New Zealand-indigenous trees along the proposed Transmission Gully route.

Mid-2008

Scheme cost and design options for Transmission Gully project expected to be available.

14 July - 20 August 2008

Public feedback sought on preferred route including local information days.

For information on the public feedback process click here

Ongoing

Commitment to keeping communities informed during the development of the project, and to consult in accordance with the RMA planning process and Transit's policy and planning framework.