Architect meets with Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown over proposed $2.5b ‘Waitematā Bridge’

• An architect has proposed a new six-lane ‘Waitematā Bridge’ positioned 500m from the Auckland Harbour Bridge, costing under $2.5 billion.
• Mayor Wayne Brown opposes a costly tunnel plan, advocating for a second harbour bridge instead.
• Reset estimates a third Causeway Bridge could save 62,050,000km and reduce CO² emissions significantly.

The architect behind the mothballed Auckland Harbour Bridge cycleway has a new plan for a second Waitematā Harbour crossing, meeting with Mayor Wayne Brown amid his disapproval of a multibillion-dollar tunnel crossing.

Reset co-director Garth Falconer has proposed a new six-lane, 2km curving bridge positioned 500m to the west of Auckland’s Harbour Bridge, saying it would cost under $2.5 billion to build and could be complete within 10 years.

The concept would see the new bridge, dubbed the “Waitematā Bridge”, be used for northbound traffic, with the eight-lane harbour bridge being used only for southbound traffic.

Falconer said the new bridge would be “splaying off” from Pt Erin and cross the harbour to the base of the Northcote peninsula, to merge “seamlessly” with the existing motorway.

Urban design architect Garth Falconer is proposing a second harbour crossing be built 500 metres to the west of the Auckland Harbour Bridge and used for northbound traffic. Photo / Reset

It comes as Brown is urging the Government to build a second harbour bridge between Pt Chevalier and the North Shore as a cheaper alternate crossing option.

The original plan for the new harbour crossing was crafted under the Labour Government and unveiled in August 2023. They said it would take decades to build and would cost $56b.

In a recently published column, Brown revealed a plan to use the naturally existing lava flow at Meola Reef to support a new Waitematā Harbour crossing that would link across the water at Kauri Pt.

The government wants to cut waste. So do I.

First step? Scrap the ludicrous harbour tunnel plan. pic.twitter.com/xPxfxRztwU

— Mayor Wayne Brown (@MayorWayneBrown) September 12, 2024

“Mayor Brown is absolutely right to oppose the prohibitively expensive tunnel proposed by the previous government which would take several decades to build and do little for urban regeneration or congestion redistribution,” Falconer said.

There could be dedicated public transport lanes on both bridges and two outside lanes on the eastern side of the Harbour Bridges could be freed exclusively for walking and cycling.

“This plan would reduce the loading on the existing bridge.

“This second bridge will have minimal disruption to adjacent communities and can be anchored by destination harbourside parks at either end, together with a walk and cycleway along the edge of Shoal Bay, linking to Takapuna,” Falconer said.

Falconer was the designer behind the scrapped cycling and walking path over the Auckland Harbour Bridge, popularly known as Skypath.

An aerial view of how the Auckland Harbour Bridge and 'Waitematā Bridge' would function. Photo / Reset

He said that using similar technology from the recently-built Pelješac Bridge in Croatia, the sides of both bridges could support a “three-metre-high plexi glass louvre system” which would halve wind speed and allow for continual operation, “even in the severest of storms”.

Reset, an internationally award-winning New Zealand urban design agency, also determined that a third bridge would be required in the future to further alleviate traffic.

“In time, with Auckland’s growth, we will need to better connect Auckland’s North and South by moving traffic away from the central city. A third bridge that links State Highway 20 Waterview northward to Greenhithe, then on to the Northern Motorway would create a bypass and a 5km saving away from the central city,” Falconer said.

Dubbed the “Causeway Bridge”, Reset said it would include six traffic and public transport lanes with 5m-wide walking and cycling lanes to include rest stops for viewing and fishing.

The 'Causeway Bridge’ would be required in the future to further alleviate traffic. Photo / Reset

It would be about 10km long, 30m wide and, for the most part, 8m high. It would stretch across the harbour from west of Point Chevalier and connect to Beach Haven.

“Estimates by the agency show that if 20% of traffic currently using the Auckland Harbour Bridge [an average around 170,000 per day] take the Causeway Bridge bypass, 62,050,000km would be saved each year. This third bridge would also save 11,212 tonnes of CO² emissions per year, based on average car emissions of 180 grams per kilometre,” a statement from Reset read.

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The agency estimated the ‘Causeway Bridge’ would cost about $3b and would be “relatively low risk” being freestanding.

An aerial view of how the three bridges would cross the Waitematā harbour. Photo / Reset

“The new link would be a catalyst for a major urban regeneration programme in Beach Haven and Birkdale, which could provide for 3000 new homes and new employment opportunities.”

It would be constructed of low-carbon concrete and on piers, providing “minimal disruption visually and ecologically”.

“Together with the curving Waitematā Bridge it will create a new level of key infrastructure that displays a sensitive understanding and a love for our harbour city,” Falconer said.

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Benjamin Plummer is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He has worked for the Herald since 2022.