Construction on first Road of National Significance begins

9 November 2009

Construction on the first of seven initial Roads of National Significance is underway, with physical works beginning today on the Victoria Park project in Auckland - more than a year earlier than originally planned.

Transport Minister Steven Joyce, who attended an event to mark the start of construction, says this is a significant step towards the completion of Auckland's roading network.

"Victoria Park was identified as a road of national significance in March because it is a key bottleneck on State Highway 1 and is of great importance to the Auckland economy."

This project will unlock the benefits of surrounding motorway improvements by increasing capacity from 2-lanes in each direction to 3-lanes northbound (in a new tunnel) and 4-lanes southbound (on the existing Victoria Park Viaduct).

Read the Minister's full media release on the beehive website.