‘I can promise you not ugly’ - new city footbridge

Thursday, 19 October 2023

Early artist’s impressions of a pedestrian and cycling bridge over the Waikato River showed a meandering, svelte structure spanning the river from beneath Parana Park to Grantham Street.

Instead, Hamiltonians will likely get a bog standard bridge, one that the council’s IAF Infrastructure - programme delivery manager Natasha Hansen has attached a promise to.

“I can promise you not ugly,” she told councillors as she fielded councillors’ questions about the aesthetic pitfalls of a more rudimentary design.

At Wednesday’s briefing to councillors about the city’s progress towards its Infrastructure Acceleration Fund projects, Mayor Paula Southgate admitted contempt for early designs of a bridge intended to be renowned.

“When it was first proposed it had a visionary aspect. It was game changer for Hamilton. An iconic bridge. We saw one design that was beautifully swervy. This doesn’t look like this,” Southgate said.

Hansen attempted to assuage councillors’ fears by suggesting what was presented was just an “engineering plan” and not a full design.

Southgate then sought to clarify what the city could actually expect.

“Are we expecting a fairly ordinary looking bridge?” she asked.

Because of the site’s topography and span length, Hansen told those in attendance that “structurally it is going to demand something different” - implying the bridge wouldn’t look, for instance, like the utilitarian footbridge across the river in Pukete.

“I would say it’s too early to come back to you and say we need more money [to make it beautiful],” Hansen explained to councillors.

Southgate disagreed.

“It’s not too early because it has to be built by 2027.”

The terms of the Government’s $150.6 million infrastructure grant stipulate the schedule for the construction of the associated projects.

The mayor then reminded staff that a draft budget to go along with the next Long Term Plan was expected by 8 November.

A listing on the government tendering database details the use of an atypical ECI process.

“Hamilton City Council expects an Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) framework for a designer and contractor team to deliver the detailed design and construction phases of the bridge.”

Proponent of the bridge project and the erstwhile chair of the river plan and CBD working group councillor Geoff Taylor, says if the bridge designs are watered down he would be “pretty disappointed”.

“I’ve championed this project because we’ve needed it for thirty years… I’d be shocked and distressed if it is somehow watered down.”

Taylor said if push comes to shove he could think of several other city council projects that could be removed in lieu of the bridge’s aesthetic dimension.

“If I was leading the project, we would meeting with philanthropic trusts and businesses to ensure we can afford it. All that has stopped since the mayor removed me from [the river plan and CBD working group].”