Lyttelton Road Tunnel

Opened 27 February 1964 creating a vital link between the city of Christchurch, New Zealand and its port Lyttelton. The tunnel complemented the long established Lyttelton Rail Tunnel.

The tunnel cost 2.7 million pounds to build and it was said to be 'among the most modern in the world' It took three years to build.
At 1944m long it became, New Zealand’s longest functioning road tunnel until the Auckland Waterview Tunnel opened in 2017.

A toll was in place after the tunnel was completed of 20-cents and was abolished by the Christchurch-Lyttelton Road Tunnel Authority Dissolution Act 1978, which became effective on 1 April 1979.

Christchurch and Lyttelton had been linked by a rail tunnel since 1867. When a road tunnel was proposed, it was rejected because horses arriving hot from the Canterbury plains could catch a cold on entering the cooler temperatures of a tunnel. Instead a road was created over Evans Pass.

There were disadvantages to having a single track railway tunnel and a winding drive over the hills as the main ways to and from the Port. Legislation was passed in 1956 to allow the tunnel to be built.

Construction of the road tunnel started in 1962. The tunnel was built by a joint venture consortium of Fletcher Construction Ltd and American owned Henry J. Kaiser Co. Construction. It is currently the longest road tunnel in New Zealand at 1,970 metres (6,460 feet).

The tunnel is closed when petrol tankers drive through.

Source Christchurch City Libraries