In the pouring rain, construction started on State Highway 1 Ōtaki to North of Levin today.
The four-lane highway – the northernmost section of the Wellington Northern Corridor – will span 24 kilometres when the project is set to be completed in 2029.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon was wearing Red Band gumboots, while Transport Minister Chris Bishop donned brown leather shoes as they turned the sod on the project.
Ō2NL is crucial infrastructure, as Horowhenua Mayor Bernie Wanden pointed out, because the district is experiencing significant population growth.
“We have long been undervalued and underappreciated, but this project is changing that,” Wanden said.
“The last Census tells the story. Between 2018-2023, Wellington’s population actually dipped slightly while ours grew by more than 3000, and that growth is not slowing, it’s accelerating.”
The current route is also one of the country’s most dangerous roads, with the transport minister describing it as a “death trap”.
During the five years to 2024, 70 people have died or been seriously injured along the current route.
Over the next five years, the lower North Island’s roading network is getting a $3.5 billion investment with the SH2 Melling interchange and Ō2NL combined.
Another major project and election promise is the second Mount Victoria tunnel.
National said they would begin construction on it during their first term.
“We will,” Luxon said.
The public is yet to hear any details about the second Mount Victoria tunnel for Wellington.
But Bishop promised locals “will see some things about other projects in the coming months”.
As for the projects already underway, the Government expects the creation of thousands of jobs as a result.
“We are a Government that is all about driving economic growth because that’s how our people get ahead,” Luxon said.
The SH2 Melling interchange and bridge construction is expected to be complete in 2031.
