7 September 2021
A healthier, safer, more sustainable way to travel between Wellington and Hutt Valley is just a few years away. Waka Kotahi is working with partners to create a new walking and cycling connection—called Te Ara Tupua—between these two cities.
Artist impression of Te Ara Tupua shared path.
Dr David Tripp is part of Doctors for Active Safe Transport and cycles between the Hutt and Wellington regularly for work. He says the existing State Highway 2 (SH2) corridor is already used for more than 800 cycle trips per day, despite the danger of cycling on the verge of a busy highway.
“There is potential for many thousands of people to switch to cycling on this route – the planned link offers a short, direct and scenic route that will be attractive to cyclists. As a health practitioner at the coal face, I’m excited to see the potential health benefits. More people on bikes will mean less diabetes, cancer and heart disease.”
There are three parts of the future Wellington to Hutt Valley link:
Other projects in the Hutt and Wellington will help expand this network.
From 2019 to late 2020 the project team developed the design and applied for resource consents for the Ngā Ūranga ki Pito-One (Ngauranga to Petone) section of Te Ara Tupua.
During this phase the team built a strong partnership and working relationship with iwi mana whenua – Taranaki Whānui ki te Upoko o te Ika and Ngāti Toa Rangatira. The project name Te Ara Tupua was gifted to the project by iwi mana whenua and refers to a traditional creation story of Te Whanganui a Tara | Wellington Harbour.
Te Ara Tupua was selected by the Government for inclusion in the fast-track consenting process. Fast-track consenting is aimed at supporting projects that can create jobs as part of New Zealand’s recovery from the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The consent was approved in February 2021.
Construction of the Ngā Ūranga ki Pito-One section will start in summer 2021/22 and it’s expected to be completed in 2024. The path will be built by an Alliance made up of Waka Kotahi, Downer NZ, HEB Construction and Tonkin+Taylor.
As part of the 2021–24 National Land Transport Programme, more than $1.45 billion will be invested to provide healthier, more environmentally friendly ways to move around the Wellington region.
Te Ara Tupua project
2021–24 NLTP Te Whanganui-a-Tara | Wellington regional summary
