Wellington stands at a familiar crossroads between ambition and uncertainty, as its most consequential infrastructure proposal in a generation — a second Mt Victoria tunnel and sweeping road network redesign — enters a fast-track legal review process without confirmed construction funding or a start date. The SH1 Wellington Improvements project, estimated at up to $3.8 billion, would physically transform the city's heart, displacing hundreds of households and businesses and claiming green belt land, yet its critics question whether approval without money is merely the architecture of intention
Wellington's $3B Mt Victoria Tunnel project enters fast-track process amid funding uncertainty
The project would require acquisition or impact of 176 privately-owned and 146 commercial properties, displacing residents and businesses in central Wellington.