Let's Get Wellington Moving E Neke Pōneke

The Minister of Transport, with support from the Mayor of Wellington and the Chair of GWRC, announced the LGWM indicative package of improvements on 16 May 2019, following Cabinet’s endorsement. This is made up of a number of components to improve walking, cycling, public transport and liveability in Wellington.

The advice to Cabinet on the indicative package included some detail on the following:

• high level total costs
• individual package components and indicative costs
• the cost-sharing agreement
• affordability within the National Land Transport Fund for central government share
• general information about how long each component would take and the order they would be delivered in.

Cabinet noted the indicative cost to the Government and the agreed funding split between central and local government. The Cabinet paper states that individual package components might have varying funding splits between central and local funding but on average, equal to 60:40.

The indicative package endorsed by the Government did not include all of the elements of the recommended programme of investment that was presented to ministers by the LGWM partners.

Beehive release: Green light from Govt to get Wellington moving(external link)

Ministers worked hard to balance the ambitions of the programme with what was affordable within the broader context of committed and predicted transport funding across the country.

The final indicative package endorsed by the Government attempts to balance delivering a step-change in transport in Wellington, while not neglecting the rest of the Wellington region.

Projects that are part of LGWM

There are 7 projects costing an estimated total of NZD$3.6 billion.

1. A walkable city — estimated to cost NZD$95 million, will improve accessibility, amenities and walking, and set safer speeds for vehicles. It aims to make the city safe and attractive to walk around.
2. Connected cycleways — expected to cost NZD$40 million, this introduces cycleways on Featherston Street, Thorndon Quay, Courtenay Place, Dixon Street, Taranaki Street, Willis Street, Victoria Street, Kent and Cambridge Terraces and Bowen Street. This will create a connected and safe central city cycleway network that is integrated with the wider cycleway network.
3. Public transport (city and north) — approximately NZD$360 million to build a dual public transport spine through the central city on the Golden Mile and waterfront quays, and improve rail network and bus priority on Thorndon Quay and Hutt Road. This will contribute to a reliable public transport system that enables Wellington to grow and encourages people to use public transport, giving them better public transport choices to the north leading to a 30% increase in rail patronage at peak times.
4. Smarter transport network — NZD$80 million has been allowed to implement smart transport initiatives, including integrated ticketing and demand management tools. These changes will lead to a well-managed transport system that makes best use of infrastructure and supports other projects in LGWM.
5. Mass rapid transit — NZD$2.2 billion has been allocated to provide mass rapid transit as part of the wider public transport network from the railway station to Newtown, and Newtown to the airport. Mass rapid transit — for example, light rail — would improve travel choices through Wellington with an attractive public transport option to the hospital and airport that creates an opportunity to share a more compact and sustainable city.
6. Unblocking the Basin Reserve — is estimated to cost NZD$190 million. This will reduce conflict between different movements and types of transport and make it easier to travel through the Basin Reserve.
7. Additional Mount Victoria Tunnel and widening of Ruahine Street — expected to cost NZD$700 million, this project will improve access for buses, and provide dedicated walking and cycling facilities. These changes will offer more reliability for all types of transport coming from the east of Wellington by redirecting through traffic away from Evans Bay and Constable Street, on to State Highway 1. It will also keep traffic flowing, while rapid transit is constructed in Newtown.

Funding the programme

The cost of LGWM will be shared:

• WCC and GWRC will pay 40% or NZD$2.6 billion, which includes capital expenditure of NZD$1.5 billion, and
• the Government will fund the remaining 60% of the capital and operational costs from the National Land Transport Fund, bringing its share to NZD$3.8 billion over 30 years.

Costs are indicative and may change once the detailed design and development of each project component is complete. However, the funding split is not expected to change.

Before the Minister of Transport could ask Cabinet to endorse the LGWM indicative package and the National Land Transport Fund (NLTF) contribution, there needed to be further understanding of what was affordable within the broader context of committed and future transport funding.

Before the announcement of the LGWM, we supported the Minister by working with the 3 partners to:

• consider the costs and benefits of various improvements, and
• determine an appropriate package of project components that balanced the aspirations for Wellington with affordability, and local and national priorities.

We, together with Treasury, provided advice to ministers about how to fund and finance the elements of the recommended programme of investment. This included:

• how LGWM would affect demands on the NLTF
• the government’s ability to commit funding and financing over 30 to 50 years, and
• how the different components of the investment package would fit with the Government’s direction for land transport as set out in the Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport 2018.

GPS for Land Transport 2018

This process resulted in a high-level plan — known as the ‘indicative package’ — made up of the majority of the projects in the Recommended Programme of Investment.

At the end of 2017 LGWM consulted with Wellingtonians on 4 scenarios for improving transport and infrastructure in Wellington. The public’s input helped LGWM to develop a Recommended Programme of Investment that was presented to the Minister of Transport in late 2018.

The recommended programme reflects LGWM’s ambitions for improving Wellington’s transport system over the next 2 decades. The recommended programme was agreed by LGWM in late 2018 and used as the starting point for engagement with central government on the way to developing an indicative package of improvements.

LGWM November 2017 public engagement(external link)

The Recommended Programme of Investment also contained a proposal for how to split the funding between central and local government. Recognising that the investment package would have local benefits from opening up development opportunities, they proposed that Wellington would fund more of the work than would be required under standard government funding arrangements.

Technical documents, including the Recommended Programme of Investment(external link)

Here are the proactive documents released on 6th of October 2022.