New Mt Vic tunnel starting soon.. Yeah Right?

Miramar, Wellington, 6 August 2010: Wellingtonians are fed up waiting for an additional Mount Victoria tunnel, according to Miramar resident Simon 'Swampy' Marsh.

An Eastern suburbs resident, Swampy says he keeps being approached by people who are exasperated by ever-increasing commuter times, all telling him that a solution must be found to this problem as soon as possible.

To get a measure of residents and motorists desire for an additional tunnel, Swampy is organising a survey on the issue. Survey fliers will be distributed over the next month around Wellington's Eastern Suburbs or people can vote online at www.swampymarsh.co.nz .

"An additional Mount Victoria tunnel was short-sightedly shelved 35 years ago and there has been little apparent urgency since to start work on this project, which is part of the NZTA Northern Corridor project.

"Perhaps it's a case of the good old kiwi yeah.... nah to the traffic holdups that plague some 40,000 people who use the Mount Victoria stretch of SH1 daily. Traffic is frequently backed up for over a kilometre at times and this situation will be made even worse on completion of the new Evans Bay sports stadium and the possible extension to the Badminton Complex," Swampy says.

The current tunnel was built in 1931.

ENDS

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