Vivian Street is about to get a lot more complicated

What NZTA's proposed SH1 Wellington Improvements could mean for Te Aro

11 September 2026

The big picture

What is NZTA proposing?

The project includes:

• 🚗 A second Terrace Tunnel — two new southbound lanes, with the existing tunnel reconfigured for two northbound lanes.
• 🚦 Changes through Te Aro — including three lanes on Vivian Street and three through lanes on Karo Drive at the Willis Street traffic signals.
• 🏏 Major changes around the Basin Reserve — separating State Highway traffic from local traffic and changing walking, cycling and public transport connections.
• 🚇 A second Mt Victoria Tunnel — two eastbound traffic lanes and a new separated walking and cycling path.
• 🛣️ Changes in Hataitai and Kilbirnie — including widening SH1 along Ruahine Street and Wellington Road.

NZTA says the project is intended to make State Highway 1 journeys through Wellington faster and more reliable, reduce congestion and encourage less traffic on local roads.

But what does it mean for our patch?

The tunnels might be the headline.

Vivian Street is where many inner-city residents could actually feel the difference.

For someone travelling through Wellington, Vivian Street is part of State Highway 1.

For someone living in Te Aro, it's also a neighbourhood street.

It's where we:

• 🚶 Walk
• 🚲 Cycle
• 🚌 Catch buses
• 🏢 Enter our apartments
• ☕ Visit businesses
• 🐕 Walk the dog
• 🚗 Drive
• 🚕 Catch taxis
• 📦 Receive deliveries

So what happens when State Highway traffic needs more room?

Vivian Street: from two lanes to three

Three lanes on Vivian Street are part of the current August 2026 Fast-track application, not just an old consultation proposal. NZTA says the additional lane and traffic-signal changes are intended to improve State Highway efficiency and reliability while retaining access for people crossing the corridor.

That may help traffic move more efficiently.

But adding another traffic lane raises some very local questions.

• What will Vivian Street feel like?
• Will it be easy to cross?
• Will walking and cycling feel comfortable?
• How will buses work?
• What happens to kerbside space?
• How will people access apartments and businesses?
• And what happens to traffic on surrounding streets?

These aren't necessarily arguments for or against the project.

They're questions about how a major State Highway works when it runs through a densely populated inner-city neighbourhood.

It's not just about traffic lanes

The Te Aro section also includes three westbound through lanes on Karo Drive at the Willis Street traffic signals.

NZTA says the purpose is to improve traffic throughput into the Terrace Tunnel.

That makes the Te Aro section more than simply a Vivian Street widening.

It's part of a system designed to move State Highway traffic more efficiently through the inner city.

Will more State Highway capacity mean less traffic on local streets?

This is one of NZTA's key arguments.

NZTA says congestion on the existing State Highway encourages traffic to divert onto local roads.

Its proposal is intended to make State Highway 1 more efficient and reliable and reduce traffic pressure on local streets.

That could be good news for inner-city streets.

But there are some obvious questions worth asking.

Where does the traffic go?

If traffic moves more efficiently on State Highway 1: which local streets benefit?

And where traffic movements or access change: where does that traffic go instead?

These are particularly important questions in Te Aro, where thousands of people live close to the State Highway corridor.

What did Wellingtonians think?

NZTA asked Wellingtonians for feedback on the proposed project during community engagement in November and December 2025.

It received feedback from approximately 2,432 people and organisations, generating around 6,700 comments. About 85% of online survey responses came from people living in Wellington.

The response to the Te Aro section was almost evenly split.

How much difference did people think the Te Aro changes would make?

In total, 48% said the Te Aro changes would make things worse or much worse, while 42% said better or much better.

People who supported the changes pointed to improved traffic flow and journey reliability.

People who were concerned raised issues including walking, cycling, local access, parking and the effect of additional traffic on the character and amenity of Te Aro.

NZTA's published consultation report records concerns that Vivian Street already acts as a barrier through Te Aro and that widening it could increase that effect.

So this isn't simply a "for or against the tunnels" question.

There are potentially very different effects for people travelling through Wellington and people living beside the route.

What about parking and local access?

This needs a little care.

The 2025 consultation design proposed removing up to 75 parking spaces along Vivian Street between Victoria Street and Cambridge Terrace. Those parking changes were among the issues raised by people during consultation.

However, because NZTA has subsequently refined the design and lodged an updated August 2026 application, we don't think the earlier parking figure should simply be presented as the current position.

What matters for residents is that kerbside space and local access are part of the changes being considered, and the current application is the document to watch for the final details.

What about construction?

For people living in apartments close to the route, this may eventually be one of the biggest questions.

The current application includes technical assessments of matters including noise and vibration and transport effects.

But the detailed construction programme is not yet confirmed.

If the project proceeds, residents will want to know:

• 🔊 How noisy will construction be?
• 🏢 Will apartment access be affected?
• 🚶 Will pedestrian routes change?
• 🚲 What happens to cycling routes?
• 🚛 Where will construction vehicles travel?
• 📳 What about vibration?
• ⏳ How long will particular streets be disrupted?

These are questions that will become increasingly important if the project moves into construction.

There's something else residents should know

This is a Fast-track application

Under the Fast-track Approvals Act, there isn't a general public submission process for this application.

The EPA will appoint an expert panel to consider the proposal.

The panel will invite selected people and organisations to comment, including mana whenua, councils, other statutory bodies, and owners and occupiers of land within and adjacent to the project area.

The panel can also invite comments from others.

What happens next?

The question for our patch

NZTA's project is designed to address a genuine problem: congestion and unreliable journeys on Wellington's State Highway network.

But for people living in Te Aro, there is another question worth asking:

There aren't necessarily simple answers.

But these are local questions about a very big project.

And they're worth paying attention to.

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ICW will keep watching

Inner City Wellington will continue to follow the project as more information becomes available and share what we find with residents of our patch.