Thousands line up for walk through $ 1.4b slice of history
The Waterview Tunnel opens for sightseers to experience 2.4km road link
Tens of thousands of Aucklanders will walk and cycle through Auckland’s Waterview Tunnel after it is formally opened tomorrow, before opening for business next month.
The turnout for the five ticketed open days through the twin tunnels will be the city’s largest for a public project since the 1950s when 106,000 people walked across the Auckland Harbour Bridge before it was opened by the Governor- General Lord Cobham on May 30, 1959.
After months of delays, Prime Minister Bill English will open the $ 1.4 billion Waterview Tunnel to complete a second motorway through Auckland, five years after work started.
Each of the tunnels was bored by a giant machine named Alice. The amount of dirt excavated was enough to fill 320 Olympic- sized swimming pools and was used to fill the old Wiri Quarry.
Over the next 10 days, 60,500 people will get to walk and cycle in the tunnel, which used 24,000 concrete segments to line the walls, 140,000sq mof paint — black for the ceiling, white for the walls — 4000 lights and 400km of cabling and wiring.
At 2.4km long, Waterview takes the record from the 1.97km Lyttelton tunnel as the longest road tunnel in New Zealand.
On Monday evening, a champagne and canape Toast the Tunnel event will be held inside the tunnel to raise funds for the Cancer Society. Tickets cost $ 285. A film called Motorway has been made about the project. Starring Wallace Chapman, it looks at the Waterview community and the push for the motorway to be built.