New pedestrian bridge at Tairua means safe crossing at last for locals

Road staff andTairua community leaders with from Left, David Spiers of Waka Kotahi, Ngati Hei kaumatua Joe Davis, Mayor Sandra Goudie and Walk Tairua's Cherry Ladd. Photo / HC Post

Road workers were blessed by local iwi on Monday before they started building a bridge to address Tairua's "most unsafe place" - a highway dash for walkers and cyclists across a one-lane road shared with traffic.

The one-lane Graham's Bridge on State Highway 25 is on a popular circuit from the ocean beach to the town but walkers and cyclists have had to play chicken with traffic for years.

Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency began work on Monday after a blessing by Ngati Hei kaumatua Joe Davis.

Davis said the pedestrian bridge was an encouraging first step in addressing all the one-lane bridges along the Coromandel's east coast.

He said since the replacement of the one-lane Kopu Bridge, thanks to lobbying by mayor Sandra Goudie - who was also present at the blessing, all the traffic queues had moved to the east coast Coromandel, from Hikuai to Whitianga.

"At least we're starting with this footbridge, which is great news for Tairua, and we thank you from Waka Kotahi for knowing our plight and pushing our kaupapa," he said.

The bridge has been a long time coming.

"You could have made a papier-mache bridge with all the reams of paper we've sent," resident Tony Jacobs told NZTA's director of regional relationships, David Speirs, after the blessing.

The Walk Tairua group and Tairua Residents and Ratepayers Association say they plan to continue seeking assistance from the Thames Coromandel District Council and NZTA to ensure a footpath links the pedestrian bridge and town.

Speirs said the new pedestrian bridge will sit beside the current one-lane Graham's Bridge, which will not be made two-lane for some years yet.

He said the new pedestrian bridge would be landscaped and completed in four weeks, and while Waka Kotahi NZTA acknowledged the community requests for a footpath, this bridge was a significant safety improvement.

"For us, we don't care whether you are in a car, on foot or bike, it's about keeping people moving. This project enables this in a safe and attractive way."

Concept plans for a replacement Pepe Bridge - which has caused growing traffic snarls along the Coromandel's east coast each New Year - were presented to the community on Wednesday.

Spiers said any replacement was still years away: "We're expecting in the 10-year window. At the moment we're doing the initial exploration of what might we put there, and then a detailed business case with costings and that will take time."

Residents had also requested a speed reduction on the northern entrance to town after Graham's Bridge, but Spiers said a statutory process had to be followed for any speed limit changes and this involved all stakeholders.