A bridge over troubled tunnels? Architect reveals concepts for Auckland crossing

Tuesday, 17 September 2024

Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown urges the Government to cancel the Waitemata Harbour tunnel plan and build a second bridge instead. David Long reports on the difficulty Brown faces in gaining support for his proposal.

A curving 2km bridge carrying six lanes of traffic arcs out from Auckland’s Point Erin to the base of the Northcote peninsula, with sound tubes and elegant night lighting.

That’s the vision of urban designer Garth Falconer, who is backing mayor Wayne Brown’s campaign to convince the Government to build a bridge rather than a tunnel as the additional Auckland Harbour Crossing.

“Mayor Brown is absolutely right to oppose the prohibitively expensive tunnel proposed by the previous government, which would take several decades to build and do little for urban regeneration or congestion redistribution,” Falconer said.

Brown first made his first pitch for a bridge in a column in July and last month The Post revealed contractors working on the crossing were costing taxpayers $75,000 a week.

Reset's concept of an additional bridge across Auckland's harbour.

Falconer’s concept would see a second six-lane bridge built 500m from the Auckland Harbour Bridge, which would take northbound traffic, leaving southbound traffic on the original eight-lane bridge.

That would also free up room on the east side of the old bridge for dedicated lanes for public transport, walking and cycling.

He’s given his grand plan the name the “Waitematā Bridge”.

Falconer and his agency, Reset, took inspiration from the the recently built Pelješac Bridge in Croatia and included a three-metre-high plexi-glass louvre system, which he said would halve wind speeds and allow for continual operation even in the severest of storms.

“This second bridge will have minimal disruption to adjacent communities and can be anchored by destination harbourside parks at either end, together with a walk and cycleway along the edge of Shoal Bay, linking to Takapuna.”

Falconer said his plans would cost $2.5b ‒ significantly less than the cheapest tunnel option which could cost $17b. A bridge was also a much safer option than a tunnel because it could be built offsite and wouldn’t cause “massive disruption”.

“The plans that I’m providing are a lot less grand than a tunnel,” he said.

“I think it’s a lot more realistic.”

Falconer’s bridge plans don’t stop at one additional crossing.

Given Auckland’s growth, there would likely need to be a third bridge.

That one ‒ dubbed the Causeway Bridge ‒ would be a low-pitched thinline structure stretching 10km linking State Highway 20 at Waterview to Greenhithe to divert traffic from the central city to avoid bottlenecks.

His vision is that it would be 30m wide with six traffic and public transport lanes with five-metre-wide walking and cycling lanes to include rest stops for viewing and fishing.

“It would be a real destination ‒ a must do for visitors to Auckland,” he said.

“I think a piece of infrastructure can be a positive thing, a thing of beauty rather than a functional thing you have to have.”

Falconer’s thinks it would cost about $3b because it was free-standing and would provide for a “major regeneration programme” in Beach Haven and Birkdale.

The total project cost $5.5b for both bridges was based on overseas examples and would cost the public less than a third of the cheapest tunnel option.

How the three bridges would cross the harbour.

It would also save emissions, he said.

Falconer estimated if 20% of traffic currently using the Auckland Harbour Bridge takes the Causeway Bridge bypass 62 million kilometres would be saved each year which would save 11,212 tonnes of CO² emissions per year.

Falconer has had his plans peer-reviewed and has met with the mayor to discuss his ideas.

“We had a really good discussion. I really appreciated that the mayor has opened up the discussion to the public … rather than the backrooms of Waka Kotahi.”

Falconer was the designer behind the failed SkyPath concept which could have seen a walking and cycling path clipped onto the Harbour Bridge before the idea was kiboshed by NZTA Waka Kotahi after massive cost blowouts.

He said he had attempted to meet with NZTA multiple times to discuss his plans but had not heard much back.

Falconer hopes the process for a key part of Auckland’s future and infrastructure is opened up to the public.

While not committing to a view either way on the proposal, Transport Minister Simeon Brown said on Tuesday such a bridge might be more complicated than suggested.