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Te Wai Takamori o Te Awa Kairangi Community Update 26: 20 November 2025

Newsletters, 20 November 2025

Cable relocation to start on Connolly Street

We spoke to residents and businesses in early November about the relocation of electricity cables across the city.

Greater Wellington has asked Wellington Electricity to do the work now before major construction gets underway in the New Year. Doing this now will help to minimise disruption and keep other work programmes on track.

Work will delivered in three sections between December 2025 and April 2026 along parts of: Connolly St, Rutherford St, Melling Link Bridge, Dudley St, Queens Drive,  Andrews Avenue, High Street, Laings Road, Ewen Bridge and Marsden St.

Crews will be working during the day and, in some areas at night, to shorten the overall length of this project while reducing congestion during peak hours. 

The first section of work on Connolly Street will be starting on 1 December.

Wellington Electricity has installed VMS boards to alert road users ahead of the works, and residents and businesses along the work route will be notified via a letter drop at least five days before work begins in their area.

Preparation for these works will begin the week before on 24 November, so you may see staff in hi-vis jackets onsite as they get things set up.

We understand there will be a high degree of community and business interest in this project.

Please note that these dates are indicative and may change due to weather conditions or other factors that can arise during underground excavation.  

Further details about timings and updates will be posted regularly on Wellington Electricity's website.

Melling station scheduled to close in December

The Melling Station will close on Wednesday 24 December 2025 for three years.

This will allow work to start on relocating and building the new station facility, as well as the new Melling interchange and bridge over Te Awa Kairangi/Hutt River.

During this time, other work (such as the City Link Bridge) will also progress in this area.

You’ll still be able to catch the train on this route, it’ll just end at Western Hutt Station instead.

We've been out to Melling Station several times this month already to answer your questions about this work. We’ll have staff at the station again in December. Join us on the following days and times:

Tuesday 9 December, 7.30am-9am
Thursday 18 December, 4.30pm-6pm

You can also check out the Metlink website for more information.

Upcoming road closures

From January 2026, several roads in Lower Hutt will be closing as work on the new Melling interchange and bridge over Te Awa Kairangi/Hutt River progresses.

This includes part of Queens Drive, between Rutherford and High Streets, and Pharazyn Street, from north of Marsden Street to Block Road, through to approximately 2029. Block Road will also be permanently closed.

These closures will give the Alliance space to move and build the new train station, shift utilities, make improvements to surrounding roads and improve the ground before major construction on the interchange begins. It will also allow work to happen safely and as quickly as possible.

Detours will be in place but these are significant changes and travel around these areas will be different. Now is a good time to plan how this work might affect your trips and what changes you can make to avoid delays.

From 6 January, we also need close the northern section of the Riverbank car park - affecting about 110 public car parks. Once this happens, the Riverbank Market will relocate to the southern end of the car park, before eventually moving to the Dowse Square/Civic Precinct.

The southern end of the Riverbank car park will continue to provide more than 700 parking spaces, with access via the Daly Street entrance only. This means current parking demand can still be met while work progresses.

The next big change will not be until the second quarter of 2026, when we close the intersection of Queens Drive and High Street for several months. We’ll let you know more about this work closer to the time.

Maps showing these closures are below.

Riverbank car park and Queens Drive closure map

Pharazyn Street and Block Road closure map

Changes to the layout of SH2 from January

We will also be installing around 2km of temporary steel safety barriers in the left southbound shoulder of State Highway 2, starting from approximately 500m north of the Block Road/Tirohanga Road intersection to Normandale Bridge.

The barriers will keep traffic and our crews safe while they scale up work on the off and on-ramps to support the new Melling interchange.

To make room for these barriers, we’ll be realigning the lanes, making them slightly narrower, and dropping the speed limit to 70km/h.

Installing these barriers will make the shoulder narrower and in some areas, will remove it altogether.

We recommend all southbound cyclists exit SH2 at Kennedy Good Bridge, and use the Hutt River Trail on the eastern side of the river, or confident on-road cyclists can use Harcourt Werry Dr, Connolly St, High St, Daly St and Ewen Bridge to Railway Ave—to join the Pito-One to Melling section of Te Ara Tupua at Parliament St.

Keep in mind Greater Wellington/Wellington Electricity’s cable relocation work is also happening along Connolly, Rutherford and Dudley streets in the early part of 2026.

We’ll need to keep this new layout in place for the majority of the construction period – through to around 2031.

Hutt River Trail closures reminder

In addition to this work, we wanted to remind you that the Hutt River Trail on the western (state highway) side of the river is now closed between Marsden Street towards Kennedy Good Bridge.

To help you get around while this area is closed, a new temporary path is available on the eastern (city) side of the river between Melling and Kennedy Good Bridges. Once you get south of Melling, the existing paths take you south to Ewen Bridge as normal.

We fully appreciate this is a big loss for regular users of these areas, but we can’t build the new interchange and bridge over the river without this additional space.

Keep out of construction zones
As worksites expand and construction ramps up, we want to remind everyone to keep out of construction zones.

We’ve already had two incidents where road workers have been abused, and in one case physically assaulted while they’re just trying to do their job.

We’ve also had numerous moments where people have moved fences, ignored safety signage, and in some instances, walked or biked straight past our staff and into construction areas. This includes one close call when a person entered a fenced zone where an excavator was operating.

The last thing we want is an injury or worse while we’re working on this transformation project for Te Awa Kairangi ki Tai - Lower Hutt.

We fully appreciate the loss of recreational space and the changes to access where we’re building the new interchange and river bridge. But we ask that you respect these restrictions and any directions given by our crews on site.

Thank you for your patience and cooperation.

Daly Street demolition update

In January, Greater Wellington will begin safely removing asbestos from the exterior walls of 4 Daly Street.

Scaffolding and other protective measures will be installed around the site and a safety exclusion zone will remain in place to protect the public and contractors.

Removal of the asbestos will also see the service lane on the south side of the building closed temporarily from January.

We’ll be working closely with nearby businesses to keep access and deliveries running smoothly. If you think this change might affect deliveries, collections, parking, or access for vehicles or pedestrians, please email info@teawakairangi.co.nz, so we can coordinate our work timetable. Some carparking spaces on the southbound lane of Daly Street may be unavailable at times until the demolition work is complete.

The next stage of this project will involve demolishing 4 and 5 Daly Street. This is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2026 and is likely to take place at night to minimise daytime noise disruption. We understand this may impact nearby residents, but night work is considered the safest approach.

Our contractors will work under a Noise and Vibration Management Plan to ensure levels remain within consented limits. We’ll be able to provide final timings in January.

Harnessing the power of plants

Greater Wellington has long used nature-based engineering to help protect vital infrastructure from the damaging effects of flooding.

Our project site, on the banks of Te Awa Kairangi/ Hutt River at Belmont, is the latest example of how we are harnessing the power of plants to help keep people and buildings safe.

Horizontal bundles of willow have been anchored into the rivers’ edge using large concrete blocks. These bundles will sprout quickly, helping to strengthen the riverbank while creating natural habitats for fish and other aquatic life.

Further back from the bank, young, fast-growing willow poles have been planted between debris fences. These will help stabilise the ground and slow the flow of flood water.

Over time we aim to gradually replace the willows with native plants that continue the job of protecting and restoring the riverbank.

This approach is being used at various points along both sides of Te Awa Kairangi/Hutt River between Kennedy Good and Ewen Bridges. Find out more on our website.

Current vacancies

There are exciting opportunities to be part of Te Wai Takamori o Te Awa Kairangi – whether you’re joining the Alliance through Fletcher Construction or supporting delivery through one of our partners.

The Alliance is currently recruiting for:

Hutt City Council is also recruiting for a Senior Project Manager to lead delivery of the new City Link Bridge.

Tip: Set up a custom SEEK search using “Te Wai Takamori o Te Awa Kairangi” to be the first to hear when new roles are advertised – including positions with Fletcher Construction and other project partners.

Businesses update

Opportunities for businesses to get involved in the programme

Work across the programme is well underway, and there’ll be more chances for local businesses to get involved as new stages roll out. If you’d like to stay in the loop about upcoming procurement and tender opportunities, please visit our website. You can also email our procurement team with any questions.

More information

Te Wai Takamori o Te Awa Kairangi includes the SH2 Melling Transport Improvements, crucial flood protection and river restoration work, and city centre infrastructure upgrades.

It is a partnership between Greater Wellington, Hutt City Council, NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi, Taranaki Whānui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika and Ngāti Toa Rangatira.

You can find out more about current work that's underway here.

Otherwise for more information on the projects that make up this transformational programme of work, please: