Weekend bus tunnel closures coming up

Wellington City Council is making good progress on strengthening both ends of the Hataitai bus tunnel, with most work being done while the tunnel is open.

However, to safely repair and paint the portals and retaining walls, the tunnel will need to be closed for four weekends. This will mean changes for some bus users.

The tunnel will be closed – day and night, Saturdays and Sundays – on the following weekends:

· 28 February–1 March

· 14–15 March

· 21–22 March

· 11–12 April

The No 2 and 91 (Airport Flyer) services will use a different route on these days – travelling between Hataitai and the city via Kent and Cambridge terraces and the Mt Victoria road tunnel.

Temporary bus stops will operate in Taurima Street in Hataitai, replacing the usual ones on Waitoa Road adjacent to the tunnel and in the village.

People who normally get on or off buses in Elizabeth, Brougham or Pirie streets in Mt Victoria will need to use stops along Kent and Cambridge terraces instead.

Councillor Andy Foster, who chairs the Council’s Transport and Urban Development Committee, says people who travel through the tunnel will have seen the rock-fall netting being installed on the Hataitai side and other work going on to make the tunnel safer.

“This essential work is helping to protect one of our most well-used public transport routes and it is great that our contractors have been able to do the bulk of it without disrupting passengers on the 400 or so buses that use the tunnel each weekday.

“The new beams that have gone in and buttresses going up now will reinforce the tunnel entrances and retaining walls. We’re also part-way through installing long steel rods that will anchor the structures to the hillside.”

He says some of the finishing work, including painting and applying an anti-graffiti coating to the exterior, can’t safely be done while the tunnel is in operation. So to avoid inconveniencing commuters on weekday services, it will be done on the weekends when fewer buses use the tunnel.

The work, which began in mid-November, is on schedule and expected to be complete in early May within budget.

It is required because structural assessments showed that while the tunnel itself is likely to withstand a reasonably large earthquake, the adjacent hillside and tunnel portals could come down and block the route.

The $1.1 million project is part of the Council’s ongoing programme to protect key routes. The programme includes strengthening road and pedestrian bridges and tunnels, and building seismically resilient retaining walls.

The tunnel, which was originally designed for trams, first opened to the public on 16 April 1907. Trolley buses began using it for the first time in 1963.

More information about the tunnel strengthening project is available on the Council website.

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