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Cabinet will commission an independently led Detailed Business Case on an additional Waitematā Harbour Crossing, taking the project off NZTA and putting it under a Senior Responsible Owner reporting directly to Ministers. The work is expected to be completed in 2027.
Transport Minister Chris Bishop and Auckland Minister Simon Watts announced the decision yesterday three months after the NZTA Board endorsed a tunnel as its preferred option.
Chris says, “The existing Auckland Harbour Bridge was completed in 1959 and forms part of the busiest corridor of the State Highway network in New Zealand, carrying 170,000 vehicles daily. It underpins almost $1 billion in annual economic activity, with this activity projected to increase to $3.9 billion by 2051.”
The constraint
“But the corridor is currently limited by the performance of the bridge. Weight restrictions already constrain freight and buses, and the lack of dedicated public transport (PT) lanes prevents us making the best use of the Northern Busway, which today carries 40% of all people crossing the bridge,” Chris says.
“These limitations are only going to become more acute. Major renewals are needed in the coming decades, with extended lane closures. Without an additional crossing in place, the total economic cost of that disruption is estimated at around $4.8 billion.”
Why another business case
Chris says, “Despite the great progress that has been made, more information and work is required before Cabinet can select a preferred option.
“Every country that has built a megaproject this size has learned the same lesson: they cost more and take longer than the first estimates suggest. Not necessarily because of the engineering, but because of scale, duration, and the number of approvals and decision-makers involved along the way. That’s a governance problem, and it has a governance solution.”
He says the Crown holds the funding levers and carries the risk, and NZTA will remain central to delivery.
Meola Reef
Cabinet has agreed to commission a further study into a Meola Reef corridor if Auckland Council is interested, with the council invited to contribute to scoping and procurement and to fund half the cost.
Simon says, “The Mayor of Auckland has expressed a strong view that a corridor solution at Meola Reef is a better idea than NZTA’s proposals. The Meola Reef option has been looked at many times in the past before and discounted as unachievable, but in the spirit of good faith, and recognising the Government’s responsibilities under the Auckland City Deal, Cabinet has agreed to commission a further study into the option, if the Council is interested.”
A market-led proposal from an international consortium for an innovative construction methodology to upgrade the existing bridge will also be folded into the business case phase.
Chris says, “This is exactly what the MLP process is for. If the private sector has innovative ideas and solutions, we want to consider those. The Government certainly doesn’t have a monopoly on good ideas.”
What it means for the sector
The weight restrictions Chris outlines are the immediate issue for coach and freight operators running north of the bridge. With no preferred option before 2027, and construction well beyond that, those constraints stay in place as do the lane closures flagged for the renewals period.
