Twin bridges seen as best Hokianga option

By TONY GEE

KAIKOHE - The Far North District Council will go ahead with a detailed, $200,000 study of a twin-bridge crossing of the Hokianga Harbour.

The bridges would be linked by a sealed arterial road and a causeway.

A consultants' draft study last month of six harbour crossing options came up with a preference for a bridge across The Narrows, near Kohukohu on the harbour's northern side, and another across the tidal Waima River, joining De Thierry St into Rawene.

A new sealed road and a causeway on the Rawene side would connect the two bridges. Toll charges would be below current harbour ferry fares.

A final report by consultants Beca Carter Hollings and Ferner, confirming their preferred crossing option, was given to the council but not the public several weeks ago.

The report surfaced at a council committee meeting in Kaikohe yesterday, where members of the Hokianga community were told copies would cost $50 to $60.

Works manager Geoff Cobb said the document, which will be available at council offices and libraries around the district, had been expensive to produce.

Kaikohe councillor Laurie Byers said it was hard to understand why the report would be so difficult for the public to get, and then only at considerable cost.

"We must have the Hokianga public on board with us if we're going to succeed. We've got to get it right, so why not put it [the document] out for public comment?" he asked.

The preferred-crossing option will now be looked at in more detail by the consultants in a feasibility study costing the council $200,000. Transfund will be asked to contribute towards the cost.

The total capital cost of the favoured option is put at $22.64 million, or $23.2 million if there is a toll-collecting plaza and equipment.

Across The Narrows, an $8.9 million single-lane cantilever bridge, with a main span of 150m, would be needed. Adding a second bridge lane would cost $2.1 million extra.

A new Motukiore link road and causeway is estimated to cost a combined $4.2 million, and a low-level bridge across the Waima River $4.7 million for two lanes.

Toll charges, if eventually adopted, are suggested at $7 for cars and $14 for trucks, compared with present harbour ferry fares of about $9 and $37.

The consultants say the suggested tolls could be further reduced if the existing ferry were sold for $1.2 million.

They told the council that the twin-bridge option represented the best value for money, based on an estimated $10.5 million worth of benefits from improved community connections, security of passage and better access to medical facilities at Rawene Hospital.

It could attract a 60 per cent Transfund subsidy, leaving council ratepayers to find $8.1 million if the ferry fetched $1.2 million.