Homer Tunnel

Homer Tunnel

Winter view from west portal of Homer Tunnel
Overview
Location	Fiordland
Coordinates	44°45′52″S 167°59′22″E / 44.764313°S 167.989556°E / -44.764313; 167.989556
Status	Open
Route	New Zealand State Highway 94
Operation
Opened	1953
Owner	Waka Kotahi
Toll	nil
Technical
Length	1.2 kilometres (3,900 ft)
No. of lanes	two

The Homer Tunnel is a 1.2 km (0.75 miles) long road tunnel in the Fiordland region of the South Island of New Zealand, opened in 1953. New Zealand State Highway 94 passes through the tunnel, linking Milford Sound to Te Anau and Queenstown, by piercing the Darran Mountains at the Homer Saddle.^[1] It connects between the valley of the Hollyford River to the east and that of the Cleddau to the west.

The tunnel is straight and was originally single-lane and gravel-surfaced. The tunnel walls remain unlined granite. The east portal end is at 945 m elevation; the tunnel runs 1270 m at approximately a 1:10 gradient down to the western portal.^[2] Until it was sealed and enlarged it was the longest gravel-surfaced tunnel in the world.^{[citation needed]}