The highway is coming - Big opportunities ahead!
Late last year we sent a study to business owners in Kapiti and asked them if they felt the region was due for growth and if so what did they think would cause this growth. The answer was the highway that’s being built.
What opportunities are coming?
The highway is likely one of the biggest business opportunities in industrial property in a very long time in the Wellington region. This means there’s big opportunities in the Northern part of the region.
There’s a couple of key reasons for this…
Wellington is becoming congested and commuting around it is slow.
Wellington commercial property is typically located in Petone, Porirua and Hutt Valley but these are becoming expensive.
The highway opens up a new area that’s now accessible with a 40 minute drive.
Locating a business a little north gives a faster shipping time to Auckland and the central districts.
With covid, staff are questioning if they need to be in the city and looking for lifestyle changes.
What is the Highway exactly?
Image by https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Vardion
Transmission Gully is a four-lane, 27 km motorway running from Mackays Crossing to Linden. This new highway will reduce peak-period travel time savings estimated at around 10 minutes per vehicle between Kapiti and Wellington, 15 minutes between Kapiti and the Hutt Valley, and five to seven minutes between Porirua and the Hutt Valley. This means Kapiti just got close!
So what is the progress on the highway?
Well the last update came on August 21st 2020. As of then the highway is approximately 85% complete. Also a final agreement has now been settled that will ensure the completion of the highway and the delivery date to the public is now confirmed to be September 2021.
“The Transmission Gully motorway north of Wellington will be open by September 2021 as part of a settlement agreement reached following the conclusion of negotiations related to the commercial impacts of the COVID-19 shutdown on the project.” Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency, 21 August 2020
As expected once it opens there will likely be some final work required to tie up loose ends. But it’s confirmed by the group that this will take an extra six months and the work will not impact on traffic. In other words, all four lanes will be running without restrictions by the September 2021 date.
What are the implications
10 or 15 minutes time savings on the surface doesn’t sound like a lot. Yet flow on effects could be high . Those who didn’t make the trip due to travel times will be more likely to hit the road. Cost of travel will be reduced by a significant proportion meaning savings and profits will be made. More people will consider moving to Kapiti too due to easy of commuting into Wellington for meetings. Those who commuted every day will save up to 30 minutes a day and be able to put this productively elsewhere.
All combined there’s going to be a lot of economic growth.
What to do next
We advise people to not underestimate the impact of the changes coming. It’s going to be an exciting wave. We’re certainly going to do what we’re always doing – supporting New Zealand businesses to thrive. Moreover we can’t wait to meet and work with the new business that are going to be attracted to Kapiti region due to the travel barriers being so reduced and are enjoying working with those that have made the move already.
Anyway that’s it from us this week. But we’d love to hear your thoughts on the other implications!