Brian Rudman: No Minister, the tunnels have already won

Sometimes you get the feeling Auckland is just a giant dolls house, built for the pleasure of idle Government ministers.

Rodney Hide is a regular, having endless fun flushing mayoral dolls down the dunny, and dreaming up Brave New Reichs to replace them. Out in the sandpit is Transport Minister Steven Joyce, happy as Larry with his Tonka tip trucks and tunnelling machines.

He drove a fantasy holiday highway through bush and hills to the north of the playhouse, then he filled in the boring proposed tunnel under Waterview, deciding it would be more fun to bulldoze a few houses and local roads.

Then he had a change of heart and decided a tunnel was more fun after all.

Now he's found the Lego box, and is flirting with the idea of a second bridge across the Waitemata Harbour.

Unfortunately the new bridge, at least, is not make-believe.

This week, acting under pressure from Mr Joyce, the so-called independent New Zealand Transport Agency called for tenders from consultants to, among other things, re-open the bridge versus tunnel debate for Auckland's new downtown harbour crossing.

This is less than two years after a definitive $1.3 million Sinclair Knight Merz report came down in favour of a tunnel.

That study was jointly funded by, and accepted by, the agency's predecessor, Transit New Zealand working in partnership with Auckland and North Shore city councils and the Auckland Regional Council.

It was an example of the unanimity of purpose that the Government says it is striving for by creating the new Super City. But because it didn't happen while it was in power, the Government doesn't seem to think it counts.

The question is, how many studies do we need? In 1988 there was a Waitemata Harbour Crossing Study, which was followed by an identical exercise in 1997.

In 2002, there was a Construction Feasibility Study, and in 2003, Transit NZ , working with Auckland local government, identified two preferred options, a bridge via Northcote Pt west of the existing bridge or a tunnel via Wynyard Quarter from south of Onewa Rd on the North Shore.

The 2008 investigation went back to basics and looked at 159 options before recommending a set of four tunnels - rail and road - at a cost of $3.7 billion to $4.1 billion.

One of the major factors in favour of the tunnelling option was the calamitous effect a bridge would have on plans to regenerate the Tank Farm-Wynyard Quarter waterfront.

To link the new crossing into the motorway system, the city end of a bridge or tunnel will have to pass through the middle of this prize redevelopment area. With a tunnel, the deleterious effects would be minimised.

Only a couple of weeks ago, Prime Minister John Key attended the celebrations marking the ASB Bank's decision to build a headquarters building as part of the Tank Farm upgrade. Mr Key was reported as being "impressed".

Auckland City and the regional council have spent millions of dollars on the planning of this redevelopment. An Auckland City plan change is close to finalisation.

In recognition of this, the Transport Agency on December 2 last year lodged notices of requirement with Auckland City and North Shore City seeking a "Sub strata [underground] designation now in order to protect the tunnel option by protecting the underground route from future development in the Wynyard Quarter".

Now the Transport Agency has thrown the whole future of Wynyard Quarter as a place anyone would want to live or work or, importantly, invest in, into doubt by raising the spectre of having to share space with one end of a massive bridge, with all the associated motorways, and fumes and noise.

The 2008 report summed up the case against a bridge. "Bridge options were not favoured due to their visual impact on the harbour and surrounding areas such as Westhaven Marina." It noted that a bridge "would have major impacts on the Superyacht base operations, as it would restrict access severely ..."

North Shore Mayor Andrew Williams was quick to highlight the craziness of replacing the old motorway viaduct over Victoria Park with a tunnel to improve local amenity values, only to link it up to a huge new bridge.

He's right. We've had the debate. The tunnels won.