Victoria Park Tunnel 2.41

The Victoria Park Tunnel is a motorway tunnel completed in 2012 on New Zealand State Highway 1 in Auckland, New Zealand, taking northbound traffic off the Victoria Park Viaduct, which was converted to all southbound traffic. It lies mostly under Victoria Park.Planning historyThe new tunnel has reduced congestion on the Victoria Park section of State Highway 1, at the Victoria Park Viaduct, an area where delays are becoming more common even between morning and afternoon rush hours. By providing more capacity, it helps ensure that the Auckland Harbour Bridge can be used to its full capacity. Originally called the 'Harbour Bridge to City' project, the official name has now become 'Vic Park Tunnel'.The tunnel, to initially cost approximately NZ$440 million (2009 estimate), later corrected down to $340 million, is a northbound-traffic carrying structure only, entering the ground in the area of the existing 'Birdcage' heritage pub (which will be relocated to allow the tunnel portal to be built in the area), and reemerges to the northwest of the park where it feeds into additional lanes provided alongside the St Marys Bay stretch of the motorway. The tunnel provides three lanes of traffic, and is 440 m long. Construction was originally to last four years, starting in January 2010, after the new National government fast-tracked further state highways investment.Full undergrounding optionA future option to also bury the traffic lanes of the remaining southbound viaduct at a later stage was not ruled out. It was initially desired by the local stakeholders but did not go forward, even though the estimates for a replacement of the existing viaduct with a second/wider two-way tunnel envisaged costs of only 50% over the cost of a one-way structure (rather than a doubling of the cost). Transit has noted that the existing viaduct might remain in use for a further 30 years before being replaced with a two-way tunnel structure. Auckland City and Auckland Regional Council however continued to call for an earlier burial of the whole motorway. They have also called for the 'Rob Roy / Birdcage' pub (in the meantime bought by Transit) to be moved over the tunnel entry instead of beside it, to achieve a more attractive gateway and public space for the Freemans Bay community.