Earlier this month, Transport Minister Michael Wood announced that a standalone structure would be built next to the harbour bridge, giving cyclists and walkers a route across the Waitemata Harbour. However, not everyone is thrilled with this announcement, as the cost of the crossing is estimated at $785 million, including $100 million for land selection.The New Zealand Taxpayers' Union has come out against Auckland's massive infrastructure project, launching a petition, which now has more than 20,000 signatures, calling for an end to funding of the project."The latest proposal for SkyPath has blown out costs to an eye-watering $685 million - more than $370 for every household in the country, from Kaitaia to the Bluff. Whether you use it or not, you'll be paying for it," the petition said.Matakana local Garth Falconer was the design team leader of the SkyPath project and originator of the SeaPath. He also believes that there are better and more cost-effective options for cyclists and walkers to be able to cross the harbour than the one AT has chosen to go with. Below, Garth shares his thoughts on the project, and offers some alternatives that could be considered. "Back in 2012 when starting the coordination of the design of the community driven Skypath/Seapath proposals for providing walking and cycling access across the Waitemata, I briefly looked at other options, including abandoning the steel truss, post-war designed Auckland Harbour Bridge (AHB) to build a better state-of-the-art bridge that is fully equipped for multi modal transport. At the time, I even showed a short report on an alternative idea to the controlling authority NZTA (New Zealand Transport Agency, then called Transit and later sub-titled as Waka Kotahi), who said it was best to shelve the report for a later date. Perhaps now with all the public stress around on how best to cross the Waitemata, its time has come to be reviewed.To me, it had always felt uncomfortable how the AHB cut across our lyrical inner coastline and central water body (which some call a harbour, and to others lovingly the Wai-te-mata) at its narrowest point, creating a back and front, severing off the large upper reaches as well as monstering the delicate peninsula form of Northcote Point. The alternative proposal I sketched out for a new bridge would head westwards from Point Erin/Westhaven, stepping across Curran Street and the reef then beginning to curve before Watchman Island and sweeping out to acknowledge the channel before hooking back into the stem of the Northcote Point, with a short 250m surgically inserted tunnel through to the east to emerge seamlessly into the northern motorway past Sulphur Beach.As it would be longer than the AHB, the gradient could be less of a climb. Passage for trams, walkers and cyclists could be alongside or perhaps sheltered better beneath. The actual form of the bridge could be quite simple, the curved form with a series of long legs would be restrained and elegant enough to fit the outstanding surroundings. A good example of such a curving bridge is the pre-stressed concrete and steel girder Coronado Bridge in San Diego which is five lanes wide and high enough at 61m to allow the US Navy Pacific Fleet to pass underneath. At that stage, I was thinking about the redundancy of the AHB and to simply remove it. Northcote Point could be reinstated and the hacked-about Sulphur Beach would be returned to the public in a usable state, as was promised 60 years ago (subsequently though I learnt that with lower volumes of traffic, especially heavy vehicles, the recently strengthened AHB could last indefinitely). To futureproof and provide a backup crossing, the NZTA had ambitiously proposed a tunnel under the Waitemata. It was going to be a massive project, somehow entering through the regenerating Wynyard Quarter and daylighting somewhere around Esmond Road to then merge with traffic coming off the AHB which would be retained. At the time, the cost estimate for the tunnel crossing was $4 to 5 billion, last heard that had spiralled upwards to $10 billion. Since picking up the Labour Government’s pledge to build the popularly backed Skypath/Seapath - the smart lightweight composite design that had been thoroughly peer reviewed, costed at $50m and achieved resource consent in 2016 - the NZTA have embarked upon a strange odyssey with its delivery. Many people have been baffled as to why NZTA would dump the incumbent design team, and not even talk to us. Four years later the plans for Seapath now follow a convoluted inland route at $250m and we now have a new concept visualisation design of a standalone boxy-looking steel bridge for pedestrians and cyclists, an estimate of $685m and very little else. Little wonder organised storming of the AHB by cyclists and walkers is back on the news creating all sorts of divisive controversy.My guess on further steps is: if we accept the new pedestrian bridge, maybe then the ground is cleared for the tunnel proposal to also be funded. Though on reflection, it could it be that the most feasible, cost-effective and unique solution is simply to build a new bridge; sweeping at an easy gradient out westwards from Westhaven for northward trafficand keeping well away from Wynyard Quarter whilst retaining the AHB for southward traffic, giving the two eastern lanes - 7m wide - to walking, cycling and lookouts (with adding wind and rain protection),and continuing seaward all the way to Esmond Road. Going on recent examples, such as the 2.5km long Gordie Howe bridge in Detroit due to be finished in 2024, the cost of a new bridge will be significantly less than the tandem currently being concocted, and it would be a more worthwhile addition to the Waitemata" Reach Garth at [email protected]
