Transmission Gully, Wellington’s major new four-lane motorway, officially opened to the public early on Thursday morning – roughly two years late and after being plagued by a number of setbacks.
The 27km-long road, which connects the capital to the Kapiti Coast and its link roads were blessed yesterday during an official opening ceremony ahead of drivers being allowed onto it.
It has been gifted the new name of Te Ara Nui o Te Rangihaeata by Ngāti Toa.
Sadly, it didn’t take long for the first speeding ticket to be issued. That had happened before 8.15am this morning, according to an NZTA spokesperson.
'Save 10 minutes'
The motorway had become the subject of mounting frustration due to the delays and mounting costs, leading to calls for an inquiry and for the Government to step in.
Now that it’s open, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency says the road should save commuters roughly 10 minutes.
To test this theory, 1News Breakfast reporters Abbey Wakefield and Jessica Morris, who are both live in Wellington, gave it a bit of a Top Gear test.
Wakefield drove to the Wellington TVNZ studio using Transmission Gully, while Morris took the old road on SH59.
The pair took off at 6.30am at the entrance to the motorway near Paekākāriki.
“If the brand-new road doesn’t take a win we’ve got some issues here,” said Wakefield before the drive.
The results
The journey took Wakefield 30 minutes and 32 seconds and she described the drive as “incredible”.
However, there were a few short parts of the drive where she lost mobile phone reception but NZTA has said it is working on that.
In comparison, it took Morris just under 35 minutes - about two and half minutes slower.
But she says the road was a lot quieter than normal, when the journey would usually take up to 45 minutes.
“The only spot where we found traffic was everybody getting off Transmission Gully,” she said.
So, after many years of waiting, on day one at least - it looks like the billions spent were worth it for commuters.
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