Transport Minister Michael Wood and PM Chris Hipkins reveal five combinations of tunnels and bridges for a second Waitematā harbour crossing. Video / NZ Herald
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins promised there would be “shovels in the ground” on a new harbour crossing in Auckland by 2029 without a single scrap of written advice.
Instead, Hipkins and Transport Minister Michael Wood set the start date based on verbal advice from Waka Kotahi NZ TransportAgency.
An Official Information Act response to the Herald shows Hipkins received no written information from Waka Kotahi before announcing a start date for the multibillion-dollar city–shaping project.
Instead, Waka Kotahi’s national manager of system design, Robyn Elston, said the agency “provided verbal confirmation to the Minister of Transport’s office that commencing physical works for the Waitematā Harbour Connections project in the current decade is feasible, assuming a 2029 start date.
“This allows for a detailed business case and consenting phase and a procurement and design phase,” she said.
The Government is promising to bring forward the construction of a new harbour crossing to 2029. Photo / Alex Burton
At a press conference in front of the Auckland Harbour Bridge on March 30, Hipkins said it was important to get on with the decision and “make it happen”.
“Shovels will be in the ground within the next six years which is at least 11 years ahead than what was previously planned”, he said, saying parts of the project could be delivered within the next decade.
Hipkins and Wood put forward five options - either a tunnel, bridge or combination of each with cycling and walking, road traffic and light rail to Takapuna. The first milestone to meet the 2029 start on physical works is next month when the Government will confirm the preferred option.
In a response on the issue this evening, Wood said Waka Kotahi supplied written advice that works on the harbour crossing project would begin within the decade. This written advice was not provided in the Official Information Act response to the Herald.
“They then provided verbal advice that construction would begin in 2029,” Wood said.
“As announced in March, the Government is absolutely committed to construction beginning on Auckland’s alternative harbour crossing by 2029 to help reduce congestion for Aucklanders,” the minister said.
The Prime Minister’s office has not responded to questions on the issue.
A Waka Kotahi spokeswoman today said officials from the transport agency advised Michael Wood in March that work could begin on a new harbour crossing in 2029.
Transport Minister Michael Woods and Prime Minister Chris Hipkins in front of the Auckland Harbour Bridge at the announcement for a new harbour crossing. Photo / Michael Craig
She said the advice was based on a 2020 business case, “Additional Waitematā Habour Crossings”, which said it would take about three years to complete a detailed business case and consenting for the project, followed by 18 months to two years for the pre-implementation phase.
“Assuming an early 2024 start on the detailed business case, physical works could begin in 2029,” she said.
The report also said “it is important to note that it is likely there is a 10- to 15-year lead time for major infrastructure projects”.
This is not the first time Government ministers have come to Auckland to make promises in front of the harbour bridge. In 2018, then Transport Minister and Greens co-leader James Shaw announced they would build a cycleway and walkway attached to the bridge, known as SkyPath.
Nearly five years later, the Government has not delivered a walking and cycling solution across the Waitematā Harbour. As far as it got was Woods’ $685m plan in 2021 for a new bridge for walking and cycling that got axed after a public backlash.
National’s Transport spokesman Simeon Brown said the March announcement was a distraction from Labour’s chaos by announcing a mega project that hadn’t even been considered by Cabinet in the same week that Stuart Nash was sacked.
National transport spokesman Simeon Brown. Photo / Angus Dreaver
“This is not a Government that is focused on delivering on the infrastructure Aucklanders need but rather a Government desperate to distract from the bad behaviour of some of its ministers.
“Since the announcement, Michael Wood has also made it clear that the Government might not even use any of the options it has presented to the public, raising questions about the genuineness of this consultation,” Brown said.
Automobile Association policy director Martin Glynn was concerned to hear the announcement was just based on verbal advice that 2029 is a “feasible” date.
“Unfortunately, Aucklanders have seen this before with light rail,” he said.
Glynn said a new harbour crossing was a really important project for Auckland and New Zealand, and it was great the Government wanted to get on with it.
“While a lot of preliminary work has already been done, a huge amount of planning, design, consenting, finance, funding and procurement work has not. It may well be feasible to start building the new crossing in 2029, but it’s not possible to have confidence in this date until this work has been done,” he said.
