Every month, the Wellington Transport Alliance closes each of the SH1 Wellington City tunnels at night including the Terrace Tunnel, Mt Victoria Tunnel and Arras Tunnel. The closures are required so crews can perform routine maintenance to keep the tunnels safe and operational for all road users.

Aside from regular maintenance, there is also an annual Building Warrant of Fitness (BWOF) closure for Terrace (4 days) and Mt Victoria (4 days) in March each year.

Occasionally there may be additional closures planned as required and these will be updated on this web page as they are scheduled. When the tunnels are closed, vehicles will need to take alternative routes to travel through SH1.

Tunnel closure maintenance schedule

Check the schedule below for more information on when each tunnel closure is happening. The tunnels are closed at night, usually between 9pm and 5.30am. This is to avoid heavily impacting traffic during the day.

2024

Terrace

Mt Victoria

Arras

Notes

November

Mon 11 Nov

Tue 12 Nov

Wed 13 Nov

 

December

Mon 9 Dec

Tue 10 Dec

No closure

 

 

2025

Terrace

Mt Victoria

Arras

Notes

January

No closure

No closure

No closure

 

February

Mon 10 Feb

Tue 11 Feb

Wed 12 Feb

Arras
Building Warrant of Fitness

March

Mon – Thur
10 - 13 Mar

Mon – Thur
17 - 20 Mar

No closure

Terrace
Mt Victoria
Building Warrant of Fitness

April

Mon 7 Apr

Tue 8 Apr

Wed 9 Apr

 

May

Mon 12 May

Tue 13 May

No closure

 

June

Mon 9 Jun

Tue 10 Jun

Wed 11 Jun

 

Download a printable copy of the 2024-2025  SH1 Wellington tunnels maintenance closures [PDF, 240 KB]

What happens during tunnel closures?

There is a lot of work involved to keep the tunnels safe and operational for road users, works include:

  • Updating and inspecting technology such as PA systems, cameras, electronic signs
  • Keeping emergency systems up to date in case of incidents
  • Maintaining fire detection and suppression systems
  • Maintain ventilation and air quality monitoring systems as required
  • Regular training with FENZ for incidents
  • Structural inspections
  • Asphalt resurfacing, barrier and signage renewals as required
  • Clearing sumps and drainage
  • General cleaning and graffiti removal
  • Replacing lights
  • Annual BWOFs

Watch this video to see what happens during a tunnel closure: