Tunnels through Mount Victoria

{{Short description|Tunnels through the hill in New Zealand}} <!-- Barely worth having this, set to "none" if you like. --> {{Use New Zealand English|date=April 2026}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2026}}

'''Tunnels through Mount Victoria''' provide access for vehicle traffic, pedestrians, public transport and infrastructure serving the largely residential eastern suburbs of Wellington, New Zealand, which are separated from the city by Mount Victoria. The first tunnel was completed in 1907, and as of 2026 there are proposals for a third traffic tunnel. alt=photo of bus exiting a narrow tunnel|thumb|A bus exiting the city side of the Hataitai Bus Tunnel alt=photo of traffic tunnel entrance|thumb|City side of the Mount Victoria Tunnel alt=photo of traffic tunnel interior|thumb|Interior of the Mount Victoria Tunnel, showing the raised pedestrian walkway

== Hataitai Bus Tunnel == In the 1870s and 1880s, members of the public expressed a wish for a tunnel through Mount Victoria,<ref>{{cite news |date=4 December 1876 |title=A suggestion |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZTIM18761204.2.15 |access-date=3 August 2024 |work=New Zealand Times |page=2 |via=PapersPast |volume=XXXI |issue=4899}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=29 July 1884 |title=Oriental Bay question |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZTIM18840729.2.25.2 |access-date=3 August 2024 |work=New Zealand Times |page=3 |via=PapersPast |volume=XLIII |issue=7231}}</ref> and as Kilbirnie developed in the late 1800s, there were more demands for a tunnel from the city.<ref>{{cite news |date=13 October 1900 |title=Oriental Bay question |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19001013.2.41 |access-date=3 August 2024 |work=Evening Post |page=6 |via=PapersPast |volume=LX |issue=90}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=6 April 1901 |title=All sorts of people |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZFL19010406.2.2 |access-date=8 August 2024 |work=Free Lance |page=3 |via=PapersPast |volume=I |issue=40}}</ref> There were also proposals from this time for a rail tunnel under Mount Victoria.<ref>{{cite news |date=20 March 1889 |title=Railway Management |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP18890320.2.12 |access-date=6 August 2024 |work=Evening Post |page=2 |via=PapersPast |volume=XXXVII |issue=67}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=1 October 1908 |title=Railway Extension |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19081001.2.55 |access-date=10 August 2024 |work=Dominion |page=7 |via=PapersPast |volume=2 |issue=316}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=4 May 1912 |title=The city's expansion |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19120504.2.44 |access-date=11 August 2024 |work=Evening Post |page=4 |via=PapersPast |volume=LXXVIII |issue=106}}</ref>

The Hataitai Land Company bought land on the eastern slopes of Mount Victoria for a housing development and offered to pay part of the cost of construction of a tunnel from Elizabeth Street in Mount Victoria to what is now Hataitai, as it would improve access to their subdivision.<ref>{{cite news |date=26 June 1901 |title=Local and General |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19010626.2.19.4 |access-date=8 August 2024 |work=Evening Post |page=4 |via=PapersPast |volume=LXI |issue=149}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=9 January 1903 |title=Tunnel |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19030109.2.66.3 |access-date=8 August 2024 |work=Evening Post |page=8 |via=PapersPast |volume=LXV |issue=7}}</ref>

In 1904 the City Council's engineer recommended a tram tunnel be put through Mount Victoria to Hataitai on the basis that Hataitai residents would contribute to the cost.<ref>{{cite news |date=1 March 1904 |title=Tramway extensions into the suburbs |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19040301.2.3 |access-date=8 August 2024 |work=Evening Post |page=2 |via=PapersPast |volume=LXVII |issue=51}}</ref> This would enable a tram service to run as far as Kilbirnie. The plan included laying an 8 inch water supply main from the city to Kilbirnie through the tram tunnel.<ref>{{cite news |date=14 February 1905 |title=The new city loan |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZTIM19050214.2.52 |access-date=9 August 2024 |work=New Zealand Times |page=7 |via=PapersPast |volume=LXXVII |issue=5512}}</ref> The tram tunnel opened in April 1907.<ref>{{cite news |date=13 April 1907 |title=The Kilbirnie Tramway |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZTIM19070413.2.71 |access-date=9 August 2024 |work=New Zealand Times |page=9 |via=PapersPast |volume=XXIX |issue=6182}}</ref> Spoil from the tunnel was used to create a flat play area on the Mount Victoria side and to reclaim land at Evans Bay which now forms part of Kilbirnie Park.<ref>{{cite news |date=18 May 1906 |title=Kilbirnie's Tunnel |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19060518.2.52 |access-date=9 August 2024 |work=Evening Post |page=6 |via=PapersPast |volume=LXXI |issue=117}}</ref>

The tunnel is one lane wide and oval in cross section. There is no pedestrian access through the tunnel: although The Hataitai Land Company and residents wanted a walkway through the tunnel, Wellington City Council wanted to collect revenue from tram fares and prosecuted anybody caught walking through the tunnel.<ref>{{cite news |date=28 June 1907 |title=Wellington City Council |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZTIM19070628.2.92.5 |access-date=9 August 2024 |work=New Zealand Times |page=8 |via=PapersPast |volume=XXIX |issue=6247}}</ref>

With the closure of Wellington's tram system in the 1960s, the tunnel was converted for trolley bus use in 1963.<ref>{{Cite news |date=23 September 1963 |title=Trolley buses to start using old tram tunnel |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19630923.2.86 |work=Evening Post}}</ref>

== Mount Victoria Tunnel == {{Main|Mount Victoria Tunnel}} With rapid development in the eastern suburbs from the early 20th century, there were calls for a second tunnel, preferably with pedestrian and vehicular access.<ref>{{cite news |date=6 September 1910 |title=Kilbirnie Tunnel duplication |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZTIM19100906.2.16 |access-date=9 August 2024 |work=New Zealand Times |page=1 |via=PapersPast |volume=XXXII |issue=74225}}</ref> In 1910 the City Engineer W H Morton recommended that a tunnel should be driven from near the Basin Reserve to opposite Goa Street, Hataitai, but this did not eventuate.<ref>{{cite news |date=16 December 1910 |title=Another tunnel |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19101216.2.70 |access-date=11 August 2024 |work=Dominion |page=8 |via=PapersPast |volume=4 |issue=1001}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=6 November 1911 |title=Topics of the day |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19111106.2.25 |access-date=11 August 2024 |work=Evening Post |page=4 |via=PapersPast |volume=LXXXII |issue=110}}</ref> Further schemes and discussions were proposed during the next 20 years.<ref>{{cite news |date=10 June 1913 |title=Hataitai and tunnel scheme |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19130610.2.60 |access-date=12 August 2024 |work=Dominion |page=6 |via=PapersPast |volume=6 |issue=1772}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=26 February 1920 |title=Local and general |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19200226.2.12 |access-date=16 August 2024 |work=Dominion |page=4 |via=PapersPast |volume=13 |issue=130}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=16 September 1920 |title=City Loan |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZTIM19200916.2.19 |access-date=18 August 2024 |work=New Zealand Times |page=5 |via=PapersPast |volume=XLVI |issue=10696}}</ref>

In 1931, the Mount Victoria Tunnel was opened south of the then tram tunnel.<ref>{{cite web |last=O'Neil |first=Andrea |date=13 April 2015 |title=Wellington's Mt Victoria 'tooting tunnel' a tribute to murdered teen |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/capital-life/67699197/wellingtons-mt-victoria-tooting-tunnel-a-tribute-to-murdered-teen |access-date=18 April 2023 |website=Stuff}}</ref> The western approach is from the Basin Reserve, and in the east it ends at Hataitai. The tunnel has one lane in each direction and an elevated pedestrian walkway that is also used by cyclists.

== Proposed second traffic tunnel == In 1974 a pilot tunnel was bored through Mount Victoria as preliminary work for a planned second vehicle tunnel to be funded by the National Roads Board. The pilot tunnel is about 2.4 m (8 ft) in diameter and lies almost parallel to and north of the Mount Victoria tunnel.<ref>{{Cite news |date=7 February 1974 |title=Pilot through but start date for Mt Victoria tunnel disputed |url=https://sites.google.com/view/heritage-help/hataitai-local-history/mt-victoria-tunnel/second-tunnel?authuser=0 |work=Evening Post}}</ref> The second tunnel project was cancelled.

As of 2026, a new tunnel through Mount Victoria is in the planning stages.<ref>{{Cite web |title=SH1 Wellington improvements {{!}} NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi |url=https://www.nzta.govt.nz/projects/sh1-wellington-improvements |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260115181457/https://www.nzta.govt.nz/projects/sh1-wellington-improvements |archive-date=2026-01-15 |access-date=2026-04-12 |website=nzta.govt.nz |language=en-NZ}}</ref>

== References == {{reflist}}

Category:Road tunnels in New Zealand Category:Buildings and structures in Wellington City Category:Transport in Wellington Category:Transport buildings and structures in the Wellington Region