Auckland’s second harbour crossing could be practical and a thing of beauty – Garth Falconer

The planned second harbour crossing is set to be New Zealand's largest-ever infrastructure project. Pictured is Reset co-director Garth Falconer's proposal. Photo / Reset

THREE KEY FACTS

• Technicians are testing for a possible tunnel or bridge for a second Waitematā Harbour crossing.
• The proposed bridge could be eight lanes wide, impacting Westhaven Marina and Northcote Point.
• Concerns have arisen over transparency and costs, with calls for a fair assessment of bridge versus tunnel options.

Many passersby will have recently noticed a small floating barge slowly making its way along the motorway edge of Shoal Bay on Auckland’s North Shore, and perhaps will also have seen what looks like an oil rig further out in the channel.

A news story about the vessels by our public broadcaster revealed that the technicians on board are testing the substratum for a possible tunnel or bridge for a second Waitematā Harbour crossing. The project managers interviewed in the bulletin proudly announced these explorations were a vital step towards constructing what will be the largest single infrastructure project in the nation’s history.

All good. Few of us would argue that a second crossing wasn’t needed. But wait a minute, an illustration in the news bulletin showed the technicians only intend to test a relatively small area of substratum, to the eastern side of the current Harbour Bridge, for a potential tunnel. And they indicated that there was just one bridge plan under consideration, which would align hard up against the current Auckland Harbour Bridge.

This is an extraordinary admission. NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) has previously said that the public won’t see preferred second harbour crossing options until mid-2026, but its project managers have let it slip that the agency’s option for the bridge alignment is going to be slap bang against the Auckland Harbour Bridge on the eastern side.

If this bridge were to be built, it would be at least eight lanes wide. It would wipe out a good part of West Haven Marina, and it would wrap around and screen the face of Northcote Point.

A second Waitematā Harbour crossing proposed by Reset co-director Garth Falconer is for a new six-lane, 2km curving bridge positioned 500m to the west of Auckland’s Harbour Bridge. Photo / Reset

The placement of a bridge is all-important to its viability as an option for a second crossing. If we get it right, it’s an obvious preferred choice compared to a high-risk tunnel which would take four times as long to make, cost taxpayers and ratepayers roughly 10 times more than a bridge, and have higher maintenance costs.

For years we have known about NZTA’s preferred alignment of a tunnel from the end of Wynyard Wharf erupting out of the foreshore close to Esmond Rd. What the public haven’t been shown, or had any say on, is NZTA’s bridge option.

Against the hope that a second bridge aligned parallel with the current bridge would save us billions compared to a tunnel, this proposed alignment won’t be feasible or consentable. Apart from wiping out a large part of Westhaven and enclosing Northcote Point, imagine the lunacy of contemplating a huge eight-lane structure that would effectively block visibility of our iconic Auckland Harbour Bridge and crowd our inner harbour.

The scale of such a bridge and the disruption will be monstrous.

And, one asks, why would such a sure-to-fail option be put forward? Could we, the taxpayers of New Zealand, be sleepwalking inevitably towards accepting a totally unaffordable tunnel that is going to take generations to pay for?

Unfortunately, we have to question the transparency, fiscal responsibility and trust that we should expect from NZTA and the Government on this all-important project.

Garth Falconer.

This is much more than just a transportation issue. It’s about urban design. It’s not only about how we get around our city efficiently with robust networks, it’s about the fit of this piece of infrastructure into the fabric of the city and the harbour landscape.

The affected communities and general public have not been fully informed on the range of options available, while NZTA has directed what appears to be an expensive, consultant-heavy process.

But it mightn’t be too late. Witness the Infrastructure Investment Summit, where Transport Minister Chris Bishop singled out the need for a second Auckland harbour crossing and invited overseas funders and contractors to provide their thoughts and lessons learnt, saying “let’s be honest, we haven’t done anything at this level of complexity or cost in a long time”.

For all of us, I hope that the Government is serious about its wish for a fair and open bridge versus tunnel assessment and will prove me wrong by directing NZTA to quickly and thoroughly publicly canvass a broader scope for bridge alignment options and formulate a planning consent pathway to enable its construction.

A well-positioned and designed bridge can both fit and be a thing of beauty.

Garth Falconer is one of New Zealand’s foremost urban designers. He is the director of Reset Urban Design, author of Living in Paradox; a history of urban design across kāinga, towns and cities in New Zealand (2015) and Harry Turbott: New Zealand’s first landscape architect (2020) and the former design lead of the SkyPath project.