![\"Transmission](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/4LU41H6_copyright_image_290343.jpeg\")
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\nTransmission Gully.
\nPhoto: RNZ \/ Angus Dreaver\n<\/p>\n
Transmission Gully will move to a 110km\/h speed limit from next week.<\/p>\n
The 27km stretch of State Highway 1 was opened in 2022, with the government saying it was designed and built to support higher-speed travel.<\/p>\n
Transport Minister Chris Bishop said the road was a critical transport link for Wellington and K\u0101piti, and carried around 22,000 vehicles a day.<\/p>\n
“Since opening in 2022, Transmission Gully has recorded low crash rates, with no deaths despite more than 150 barrier strikes. Safety features, including two lanes in each direction and a flexible median barrier between opposing lanes help reduce the risk of death or serious injury in a crash,” he said.<\/p>\n
Bishop said during public consultation in 2025, 92 percent of the 2061 submissions supported raising the speed limit.<\/p>\n
The 4.6km Raumati Straights section of State Highway 1 will remain at 100km\/h, before the speed limit returns to 110km\/h at the K\u0101piti Expressway.<\/p>\n
Bishop said while Raumati Straights was consulted on, technical assessments showed the section did not meet the minimum safety and design requirements for raising the speed limits.<\/p>\n
He did not rule out increasing the speed limit in the future, but it would require “significant investment in safety improvements.”<\/p>\n
The changes will take effect from 12:01am on Monday, February 16.<\/p>\n
The highway stretch has had a chequered history<\/a>, with its completion date pushed out from 2020 to 2022.<\/p>\n The initial expected cost of $850 million also blew out to $1.25 billion.<\/p>\n Some sections of the highway have had to be rebuilt<\/a> because the initial chip-sealing work was never completed<\/p>\n The road was built under a Public Private Partnership, with the builders of the road taking the New Zealand Transport Agency to court over a dispute<\/a> about unfinished construction and quality checks. The matter was eventually settled out of court.<\/p>\n