The Waterview Tunnel is a key piece of the Western Ring Route, a 48km motorway route through the west of Auckland, connecting Manukau, the city, West Auckland and the North Shore. The 2.4km Waterview Tunnel between Pt Chevalier and Mt Roskill opened in July 2017, and cost $1.4b to build.
The Western Ring Route and Waterview Tunnel is a significant step in transforming the way people and freight move around Auckland and New Zealand. It represents the biggest change in travel patterns since the opening of the Auckland Harbour Bridge in 1959.
Completing the Western Ring Route will create extra motorway capacity, ensuring thousands of vehicles can travel around the city. This will also free up local roads by transferring traffic onto the state highway network.
Opening such a large piece of transport infrastructure means travel patterns will change. Some areas will benefit from reductions in traffic, although Auckland’s growing population means traffic will still be heavy in some areas at peak times.
The Western Ring Route and Waterview Tunnel provide a second route through Auckland, bypassing the city, in addition to State Highway 1. Completion of the Waterview Tunnel will also:
Fitting out the Tunnel has involved:
From time to time the Waterview Tunnel will require maintenance which may mean partial or full closure.
Any planned closure of the Tunnel will be advertised well in advance and generally happen between the hours of 10pm and 5am.
The detour route will be clearly marked.