Development of the proposal The project began as an agreement between the city council, regional council, and
Waka Kotahi in 2014, called the
Ngāūranga to Airport Governance Group. The group proposes to put a bridge over the
Basin Reserve. During the same year, an independent Board of Inquiry declined to consent to the plans. The following year it was terminated after a ruling by the
High Court. The partners then created "Let's Get Wellington Moving" and began consulting with the public in 2016. The project resulted from a long-standing dispute between proponents of public transport and motorways who saw no progress for two decades. The then-new project focus extended beyond the Basin Reserve and the Airport corridor, focusing on
transport behaviour change. In 2017, the
Labour Government made funding for public transport a priority, and four future transport scenarios were proposed for public consultation. A 2019 study recommended adding a second two-lane
Mount Victoria Tunnel for road traffic. It also explored the option of a
dual-track rail tunnel to the south of the existing Mount Victoria Tunnel. Light rail line was projected with a capacity of 12,000
passengers per hour this compared to 4,000 people per hour in private vehicles. In May 2019, Lester with Twyford announced "Let's Get Wellington Moving" a transport package worth
NZ$6.4 billion. This included reducing CBD speed limits from 50
km/h to 30 km/h, except on
main arterial roads. The revitalisation of Wellington's "Golden Mile" to
prioritise public transport and pedestrians over
private vehicles. Footpaths widened by up to 75 percent, removing most on-street carparks, and bus-only lanes in each direction would run along the stretch, with several side streets being blocked off to private vehicles. The "Golden Mile" includes the
Beehive end of Lambton Quay to the end of Courtenay Place. A second Mount Victoria Tunnel was to be prioritised for buses and have dedicated facilities for walking and
cycling. Mass transit line linking the railway station with the Hospital, Newtown, Miramar and the Airport. Options on which mass transit to build included
electric buses,
trackless trams, or light rail. By 2020, no progress was made in planning the mass transit system; however, light rail was included in the Green Party's transport policy of 2020. In 2021, a light rail route to
Island Bay via Newtown was looking to be in the short list of options presented to the public later on that year. In November 2021, the light rail and
bus rapid project was officially revealed with four options on different routes that they cloud go; it also included options about improvements at the Basin Reserve and a second Mount Victoria Tunnel. The public was consulted with the options over six weeks and a proposal to expand the
city's cycling network as well. In 2021, it was planned that a finalised design for the light rail would be ready in 2027 and construction would begin in 2028, and depending on the final decision, it could take 8–15 years to build. While the schedule construction for the second Mount Victoria tunnel was pushed back at least 10 years. In September, the city council made plans to build the Paneke Pōneke bike network plan, which was to build 147km of cycleways for Wellington over a decade. The city council would construct about 90km of the routes, while "Let's Get Wellington Moving" would build 34km of the inner-city cycleways.
The plans to Island Bay. In 2022, the New Zealand government committed to an estimated NZ$7.4 billion project consisting of a light rail line running from the Wellington city centre to
Courtenay Place then either the "southern" route past the
Wellington Hospital to the south coast at Island Bay or the "eastern" route to
Miramar and
Wellington Airport.
New Zealand's Finance Minister Grant Robertson stated that "the southern light rail option is our preferred choice for Wellington because of the significant potential it offers for new housing and neighborhood growth." A second Mount Victoria Tunnel that proposed to have two lanes for cars and two lanes for public transport. It would also see the existing Mount Victoria tunnel turned into one dedicated for walking and cycling. The city council had also approved the Paneke Pōneke bike network plan and to expanded by an extra 20km; the network would see cycleways connecting the city centre to every major
suburb in the city, including
Tawa and
Johnsonville. The Golden Mile revitalisation design, traffic changes, and funding share were approved in June. Some of the councillors proposed withdrawing from partnership with the regional council and Waka Kotahi; a vote of no confidence was held but failed to gain majority support in the city council.
Councillor Nicola Young stated that "Let's Get Wellington Moving will kill our inner city." Waka Kotahi had purchased in October 2023 land for a site for a light rail station near the Basin Reserve on the "southern" route to Island Bay. A
charity was considering the site for the proposed Wellington Charity Hospital.
Demise In September 2020, the "Let's Get Wellington Moving" board commissioned external consultants to review the program, revealing it was at risk of failing to deliver and needed to be paused to address major problems. Issues identified include under-resourcing, staff shortages, a lack of expertise, and a lack of strategic leadership, which may have persisted since its inception in 2015. Joel MacManus of
The Spinoff said when "Let's Get Wellington Moving" was formed, "No one, not even the people running the show, knew what they were trying to achieve or why it existed." Other problems with the project were that it was expensive, slow with long timelines for implementation, unaccountable, organisational structure, and had bad engagement with the community. The National Party campaigned to withdraw from "Let's Get Wellington Moving" in July 2023, saying that the plan had been "mucked around with for way too long".
Chris Bishop, who developed the transport policy for National, said "Let's Get Wellington Moving" was a "toxic mess of a programme". In November 2023, the then-new National Government, under their 100-day plan, undertook to withdraw central government from "Let's Get Wellington Moving" except for the second Mount Victoria Tunnel. However, Wellington mayor
Tory Whanau tried to propose to both
Christopher Luxon and the Minister of Transport,
Simeon Brown, to head over with her to
Canberra or
Sydney to look at their light rail projects to try to change their minds about scrapping the plan to build a light rail line for Wellington. The government announced in mid-December 2023 that the project would be scrapped. Simeon Brown ordered the NZTA to cease funding and work on various local council projects to promote cycling, walking, and public transportation, including "Let's Get Wellington Moving". Whanau said "It will do nothing to grow the city, make it more liveable or tackle the
climate crisis. Ramming through a four-lane highway and tunnel won't win the votes of Wellingtonians who have shown consistent support for light rail in the city." == Legacy ==