The consortium is made up of Fletcher Construction, Beca Engineering, Higgins Contractors and Australian consultancy Parsons and Brinckerhoff.
The 2.2 kilometre-long project would make road travel in Auckland faster, easier and less expensive by eliminating a major chokepoint on one of the busiest stretches of the motorway network, said NZTA acting regional director for Auckland and Northland Tommy Parker.
The project would include a 440m tunnel beneath Victoria Park to carry three lanes of northbound traffic.
Prime Minister John Key, who was at a ceremony in Auckland today to make the announcement, said the start of construction has been brought forward by a year, thanks to the Government's billion dollar boost to state highway funding.
Preliminary work on the Victoria Park tunnel, which is divided into two parts, is due to begin next month, with construction scheduled to begin in November 2009.
"It is estimated that 120 people will be working on the project within six months. This will rise to about 300 by the middle of next year, and will be maintained until the project is finished," Mr Key said.
"We believe more investment in good quality infrastructure can boost productivity, unlock economic potential, lift non-inflationary growth, and of course create and maintain employment.
"The new government policy statement on land transport funding will deliver an extra $1 billion investment in state highways, bringing the total investment in the next three years to $3 billion." The tunnel was one of seven "roads of national significance" chosen by the Government for priority development.
Transport Minister Steven Joyce said they were seven of the most essential routes which needed work to reduce congestion, improve safety and support economic growth.
"Victoria Park was identified as a road of national significance in March because it is a key bottleneck on State Highway 1 and is of great importance to the Auckland economy," Mr Joyce said.
The project would increase capacity from two lanes in each direction to three lanes northbound (in a new tunnel) and four lanes southbound (on the existing Victoria Park viaduct).
Mr Joyce said this would greatly ease congestion for the 160,000-plus vehicles that use this route each day.
