Billions of dollars spent on Auckland infrastructure, so why is the Supercity falling behind globally?

Wednesday, 30 July 2025

In a two-part series, Stuff examines seven large infrastructure issues Auckland has been dealing with, and looks at how they can help make the city great again. In part one, the City Rail Link, a second harbour crossing and the stadium network.

Poor planning, lack of innovation and a weak economy are seeing Auckland fall behind comparable global cities in productivity and prosperity, a recently released report shows.

However, the city is doing well in terms of culture, sustainability and resilience, the State of the City report from the Committee for Auckland said.

Large parts of the central city have looked like building sites for a decade, and only recently have parts of it started to look vibrant again. So has New Zealand’s biggest city turned a corner?

City Rail Link

The City Rail Link has been held up as the jewel in the crown for Auckland’s transformation.

It may only be 3.45km long, with just two new stations, but it will make getting around the city significantly quicker and easier, unless you live on the North Shore that is.

Construction has been going on for nine years, and those who live or work in affected parts of the city, particularly around the midtown Te Waihorotiu Station, have had it tough for most of that period.

The $5.5 billion project is supposed to open next year, but City Rail Link Ltd refuse to say when, or even which half of 2026 that might be.

The fear is that if a date is announced, then missed, there will be a public backlash. Or worse, it opens, then something happens which forces it to shut.

However, City Rail Link Ltd’s CEO, Patrick Brockie, says we are getting closer to that opening date.

“City Rail Link’s programme of building is nearing completion – stations are nearly finished as most Aucklanders will be able to see as they go past them,” Brockie said.

“All the project’s building work is due to be completed by the end of this year, meaning roads and footpaths open and the end of CRL construction impacts on our neighbouring residents and businesses.

“There is no doubt the finish line is getting nearer by the day, but we’re not there yet. There is still a lot of work to be done before passengers ride the trains on the new CRL in 2026.”

Brockie says the work still to be done includes the testing and commissioning phase, as well as KiwiRail and Auckland Transport work.

Testing and commissioning involves more than 16,000 checks and rechecks on the various systems needed to operate CRL – signalling, tunnel and station ventilation, lighting, communications, security, fire, and lifts and escalators - and the exercises the project completes with emergency services to be prepared for any event underground.

“We’re all focused on getting the best possible outcomes for Aucklanders, delivering the many benefits the project will bring and getting people onboard the train in 2026,” Brockie said.

Second harbour crossing

The debate over a second harbour crossing has been raging for decades and despite the city’s rapid population growth, little progress has been made. But that could soon change.

The previous Labour Government proposed three tunnels under the Waitematā Harbour, two for cars and one for light rail.

But the National-led coalition Government chucked those plans in the bin when it came into power.

Mayor Wayne Brown wants a bridge from Meola Reef to Kauri Point, but it will be the coalition Government that’ll decide next year.

Something that looks like a small oil rig has been in the Waitematā Harbour for the past few months. This is where geotechnical drilling is taking place to help work out whether a bridge or tunnel is the best option.

“Land-based investigations started late last year and geotechnical drilling in the Waitematā Harbour started in mid-March,” a spokesperson for NZTA said.

“All of the geotechnical, environmental, and utilities investigations the project is undertaking will provide a comprehensive understanding of ground and seabed conditions.”

NZTA is refining the scope of the crossing components and developing a detailed understanding of costs, risks, trade-offs, and assumptions, as well as undertaking market testing, for both tunnel and bridge options, prior to seeking a decision on which option to progress to delivery mid-2026.

“This includes specific work on tunnel and bridge form, location, methodology, and a detailed response to resilience issues along the SH1 corridor, including sea level rise mitigations.”

It will be a momentous decision to go with either a bridge or a tunnel and one of the biggest this Government will make.

“Auckland, and indeed all of New Zealand, needs this project,” Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop said recently.

“After decades of discussion, we are finally ready to put a stake in the ground: we are committed to building it, and expect to announce a preferred option mid-2026.”

Stadium network

Auckland’s stadium network remains splintered, and it’s long been said that the city needs an integrated stadium plan, where they complement each other, which is the case for somewhere like Melbourne.

But after a year when it’s been rare for any Auckland Council Governing Body meeting to not have a stadium issue on the agenda, it is still unclear about further developments of Eden Park and what will happen to Western Springs Stadium.

In March, Auckland councillors voted to back an Eden Park upgrade rather than a new downtown stadium. That decision gave the green light for Eden Park to ask the Government for $110 million to fund stage one.

However, Minister for Sport and Recreation Mark Mitchell said no funding request has yet been made.

“I have met with Eden Park. I have been there and visited,” Mitchell told Stuff.

“They've got a very good chief executive there [Nick Sautner], a very good board, lots of plans for Eden Park. But no, we've not discussed any request for $110m.”

Councillor Shane Henderson, who chaired the council’s working group, voted in favour of Eden Park in March.

“I stand by the call that I backed them to raise money and get the project sorted,” he said. “But I haven't seen any evidence here, and we haven't been briefed as well.”

Western Springs Stadium’s future appears cloudier. Public submissions were sought on plans to either allow Auckland FC to build a stadium there, the site to be redeveloped as a permanent concert facility as well as being shared with Ponsonby Rugby Club, or neither option.

Council staff recommended the Auckland FC option, but before councillors could vote, the A-League club suddenly and surprisingly pulled out.

“It was a really fraught and emotional process for the public,” Henderson said.

“So to go through that and then to have the results somewhat invalidated because one of the major parties that we asked about then pulled out immediately, that's a very frustrating thing for me.

“So what we do about that is not quite clear yet, and all I do know is that we'll be having to address this again after the [local government] election [in October].

“It's really annoying, because we don't have that certainty for the public, and people want that.”

Ponsonby Rugby Club believes the council should honour the process and go with the proposal they put forward with CRS Records, while the campaign to keep speedway at Western Springs continues.

However, Henderson says everything is now up in the air for Western Springs.

“All I know is that we'll be readdressing the question at a later date,” he said.