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Transmission Gully, a chain of steep-sided, isolated 
The
valley
A valley is an elongated low area often running between Hill, hills or Mountain, mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers ...
s in the Wellington Region
Greater Wellington, also known as the Wellington Region (Māori: ''Te Upoko o te Ika''), is a non-unitary region of New Zealand that occupies the southernmost part of the North Island. The region covers an area of , and has a population of
T ...
of New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
, runs approximately north–south between the Kapiti Coast
The Kapiti Coast District is a local government district of the Wellington Region in the lower North Island of New Zealand, 50 km north of Wellington City. The district is named after Kapiti Island, a prominent island offshore.
The pop ...
and Tawa, through hills east of Porirua
Porirua, ( mi, Pari-ā-Rua) a city in the Wellington Region of the North Island of New Zealand, is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington metropolitan area. The name 'Porirua' is a corruption of 'Pari-rua', meaning "the tide swee ...
.
The gully's name comes from the 110,000-volt transmission line that formerly ran through it. The line, built in 1924, linked Wellington to the Mangahao hydroelectric station near Shannon, and later to the wider North Island
The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...
transmission grid.
Despite lying mostly within the boundaries of Porirua City, Transmission Gully is sparsely populated, and most of the land is farmland, forest, or scrub. There are some areas with lifestyle blocks, particularly near Pāuatahanui, and Transmission Gully is also home to Battle Hill Farm Forest Park.
The 1879 proposal for a Haywards–Plimmerton Line railway route north from Wellington envisaged using these valleys; the line was never built.
The Transmission Gully Motorway
The Transmission Gully Motorway () is a , four-lane motorway north of Wellington, New Zealand; it is part of the State Highway 1 route. Construction began on 8 September 2014 and completion was originally scheduled for April 2020, but contractu ...
running through the gully was opened in March 2022. It is part of State Highway 1
The following highways are numbered 1.
For roads numbered A1, see list of A1 roads.
For roads numbered B1, see list of B1 roads.
For roads numbered M1, see List of M1 roads.
For roads numbered N1, see list of N1 roads.
For roads numbere ...
and was constructed as part of the 2008-2017 National Government's Roads of National Significance
Roads of National Significance (RoNS) was a name given by the 5th National Party Government, to a programme to speed up road construction in New Zealand between 2009 and 2017.
RoNS were first announced on 20 March 2009 by Transport Minister, ...
package. It will not, however, offer any access to the gully itself, as only a single interchange providing access to Paekākāriki
Paekākāriki () is a town in the Kapiti Coast District in the south-western North Island, New Zealand, and one of the northernmost suburbs of Wellington. It lies north of Porirua and northeast of the Wellington CBD. The town's name comes from ...
exists between Pāuatahanui and Mackays Crossing
Mackays Crossing is a locality in the Kapiti Coast District of New Zealand's North Island, located between Paekākāriki to the south and Raumati South to the north.
Name
The locality was previously officially named MacKays Crossing, but was of ...
.
Apart from the motorway, the only other road access through Transmission Gully is the narrow and winding Paekākāriki Hill Road. Beginning at Paekākāriki, it travels up and over the western ridge of Transmission Gully, and then gradually descends the western bank along most of the length of the gully to Pāuatahanui.
References
Valleys of the Wellington Region Transport in the Wellington Region {{Wellington-geo-stub