Tunnel is buried, hub, 2 bridges considered

Whangarei District Council staff have scrapped the idea of a tunnel providing a second harbour crossing for the city.
But two road bridge proposals and a "hub" plan, including a lock, are still on the drawing board with staff expecting to provide the council with details of these three options about mid-August.
A $33.8 million second crossing on the lower Hatea River, with construction starting between 2010-13, is included in the long-term council community plan, approved late last month.
Council infrastructure services manager Simon Weston said yesterday the possibility of putting a traffic tunnel under the harbour was an exciting proposal which presented engineering challenges regarding connections at both ends.
"But it has been precluded from further consideration because it would be too expensive," he said.
Both bridge options would have their eastern abutments on Pohe Is. One is envisaged as spanning the Hatea River to the northern portion of Port Rd and the other would link with Port Rd near its Kioreroa Rd junction.
The "hub" option would cross from Pohe Is to a site upstream of Limeburners Creek, Mr Weston said.
The council's quick action in considering options to effect its long term plan was "really positive", he said.
Council environment services manager Paul Dell has been researching the environmental impact of each option to prepare costings for council consideration and for resource consent applications necessary if one of the proposals gets a green light.
He said council staff had looked at possible harbour crossings with eastern abutments at Pohe Is or Kissing Pt and western abutments at possible sites from the former United Carriers yard in Port Rd to the Tenix shipbuilding premises at the southern end of Port Rd.
The council's environmental studies included an assessment of the possible sedimentation damage which a lock could cause to mangroves.