A Fighting Fund was established and a deputation sent to the governor of the province who advised the matter would be referred to the Surveyor General.

[2] The road up the gorge was transformed between July 1938 and November 1939 as an extra part of the Wellington to Paekakariki project later dubbed the Centennial Highway.

He said "Motoring mishaps, some more serious than others, are not uncommon, due principally to the tortuous nature of this road and the density of traffic which amounts to between 3000 and 4000 vehicles per day.

Briefly the intention is to completely re-align and re-grade the road through the Ngahauranga Gorge so as ultimately to provide for four lanes of traffic.

"[3] On commencement of the project the new Minister "symbolised the new administration's optimism and the power of machinery over the picks and shovels by getting into a bulldozer and wrecking a pile of wheelbarrows".

This required considerable excavation and the rock removed went into harbour reclamation for the construction of the Wellington Urban Motorway completed in 1969.

The Newlands Interchange, at the top of the gorge, was constructed in 1997–98 to replace the simple junction controlled by traffic lights, which caused a large amount of congestion.