Tēnā koutou katoa,
It has been a pivotal couple of weeks for the future of Wellington’s central city, and possibly one of the most critical periods in the Programme’s history. First Wellington City Council reconfirmed their support for the Golden Mile and Thorndon Quay Hutt Road projects, then Waka Kotahi announced that their Board had agreed to fund their share of the cost for both projects. While we are eagerly looking forward to getting on with the job, we have also taken some time to reflect.
At its core, our programme exists to offer improved choice and service for travellers, focused on active and public transport. Doing our job well also means people who need to use private vehicles will be able to do so with less congestion from a growing city population. This benefits our whole region who rely on key amenities like the hospital and airport, not just those living in Wellington City.
Wellington is set to grow by 50,000–80,000 people over the next thirty years. If we do nothing, that will mean more congestion on our roads, impacted public transport services, and extra carbon emissions. That’s why our partners support moving more people with fewer vehicles and enhancing the access people have to public transport, walking options and cycleways. Our mahi will help Wellingtonians and regional users of the transport network to access quality alternatives, meaning more choice about how we travel.
The Golden Mile and Thorndon Quay Hutt Road projects will kick start these changes to our city. If you ride the bus in Wellington, there’s a 90% chance you ride down the Golden Mile. The Thorndon Quay-Hutt Road bus corridor carries more bus passengers than any other corridor after the Golden Mile. These improvements will enable better bus reliability, frequency, and travel times for Wellington bus passengers. Thorndon Quay-Hutt Road is also the busiest cycle route in Wellington, and the project will make rides into the city safer and more pleasant. With the Thorndon Quay-Hutt Road project connecting with Te Ara Tupua, cyclists will have dedicated cycle lanes from Lower Hutt right into the central city.
For those of us who enjoy a stroll or spending time in cafés as a break from leisurely browsing of the retail strip, changes to the Golden Mile will make the area a safer and more attractive place to be. Pedestrian areas will be widened, with more green space added for spending time in some of the sunniest parts of the city in Courtenay Place. Along Lambton Quay and Courtenay Place, cycleway access will be clearly separated from pedestrian access, allowing people riding bikes or scootering to pass through the space safely and comfortably.
Construction for both projects begins in September. Golden Mile work starts with enabling work on Courtenay Place, while construction on Thorndon Quay will begin before the Aotea Quay roundabout is completed. Further information for all will be available on our website, and we will keep you updated about what is happening, as well as the various initiatives introduced to support business and others during construction.
Mānawatia a Matariki!
Sarah Gardner - Programme Director
Golden Mile gets the green light
Work to revitalise Wellington’s Golden Mile has been given the green light, with funding being approved by Wellington City Council and Waka Kotahi.
The project will create a safe and beautiful heart of the city, with generous spaces, attractive native trees and mana whenua designs, for people to shop, work or socialise, by shifting the focus to public transport, walking and cycling and reducing reliance on private vehicles.
Thank you to everyone who provided feedback on the proposed traffic resolutions for the Golden Mile during our consultation in April and May 2023, which informed Wellington City Council’s recent decision.
Our report is now available on our website. It summarises and sets out the key themes of feedback received on the proposed Traffic Resolutions during consultation, which we carried out on behalf of Wellington City Council (WCC).
The WCC Officer’s recommendations can be found from P. 41 in the agenda on the Council’s website.
Aotea Quay roundabout on track
The new Aotea Quay roundabout project continues to make good progress, with Phase One of construction complete.
Once finished, the roundabout will play a key role in removing heavy traffic from Hutt Road, allowing freight traffic headed to the port or the ferry terminal to remain on State Highway 1 until the Aotea Quay off-ramp instead of needing to come down Hutt Road. This will help with the Thorndon Quay-Hutt Road project, freeing up road space for part-time bus priority lanes and cycleway improvements.
Think of the Aotea Quay roundabout project as the key that unlocks the change to come, with both Thorndon Quay improvements and the revitalisation of Golden Mile getting underway in September.
Find out more about the Aotea Quay roundabout project on our website and sign up for programme updates.
Works underway for people-friendlier City Streets
We’re getting on with $12M of work to deliver safer and more enjoyable walking, cycling and public transport experiences for Wellingtonians in the near term.
As well as our larger projects, we also have a team delivering a collection of smaller initial works as part of our City Streets projects. These smaller pieces of work improve how we get around the city and suburbs more safely and easily.
We’re delivering a mix of public transport, walking and cycling improvements – including better bus stop accessibility and capacity, more pedestrian crossings, and additional signage for wayfinding.
With more than 70 different projects across the central city, Karori, eastern and southern suburbs, most Wellingtonians will be able to see these changes in their daily lives.
While there is a lot of work to get done in a short space of time, to keep things efficient and cost-effective we are delivering alongside other work by our partners Wellington City Council, Greater Wellington Regional Council and Waka Kotahi. This also means we can jointly deliver on other programmes of work like the Bus Priority Action Plan, Pōneke Promise and the Paneke Pōneke Bike Network Plan.
Vivian Street intersection improvements finished, continue along the waterfront
Central City walking improvements work down Vivian Street are now complete, with the switch to the new traffic light signal poles at the Tory Street intersection scheduled for mid-August, after the FIFA World Cup finishes.
Along the waterfront, work is substantially complete at Jervois Quay/Harris Street, Jervois Quay/Willeston Street, and Customhouse Quay/Brandon Street.
The remaining intersections along the waterfront – Jervois Quay/Hunter Street, Customhouse Quay/Johnston Street, Customhouse Quay/Waring Taylor Street, and Waterloo Quay/Bunny Street – will be picked up after the World Cup and completed by the end of the year.
These small intersection changes will help to create an accessible city for everyone, including people using wheelchairs, people with prams and small children, people with limited mobility and people who have visual impairment.
LGWM attends Our Future Region to promote a future Wellington
On 26 June, the urban development team from Wellington City Council and Let’s Get Wellington Moving attended the Our Future Region forum, organised by the Regional Wellington Leadership Committee and held at the Lower Hutt Events Centre.
The team presented to local, regional and central government representatives and mana whenua on the urban development opportunities for the city’s future, with a focus on how the proposed Mass Rapid Transit project may unlock growth and provide regional connectivity to key services, such as the hospital and the airport.
WCC Brooklyn cycleway consultation now open.
Wellington City Council’s consultation on pedestrian, cycling and bus improvements for Brooklyn is now open.
The proposed improvements would see another section of the city’s bike network improved and extended – providing a safer connection through to the Brooklyn shops.
Find out more about the Brooklyn connection here or head on over to Kōrero Mai | Let's Talk to have your say on the project.