Battle of the bridges for city motorists

The Auckland Harbour Bridge will have the four inside lanes closed for five nights a week for three weeks from this Sunday. Picture / Richard Robinson

Motorists face new challenges around Auckland as contractors prepare for lane or road closures across three of the region's most important bridges.

Transit NZ intends shutting lanes from Sunday night on both the Harbour Bridge and Mangere Bridge for welding and resurfacing, and the Auckland City Council is preparing for a full closure of Grafton Bridge to motor vehicles for the whole of the following weekend for structural load tests.

The Harbour Bridge will be restricted to the two outside clip-on lanes in both directions between 8pm and 5am on each Sunday to Thursday of the next three weeks. Transit expects delays of five to 15 minutes.

Regional manager Peter Spies said traffic flows would be monitored and the maintenance timetable modified if delays proved longer than expected.

The agency also intends closing a lane in each direction on Mangere Bridge from 8.30pm to 5.30am over five nights from Sunday while contractors lay a new road surface. Transit says motorists should allow an extra 30 minutes for airport trips.

The Auckland City Council has posted signs along roads heading to Grafton Bridge in preparation for its full closure from Friday, September 29.

The bridge will be closed to all except pedestrians and cyclists until the following Monday morning.

Contractors are testing five beams in the 94-year-old structure under loads of more than 40 tonnes to make sure they will not have to be replaced in a costly exercise to strengthen the bridge to carry buses and possibly even light-rail vehicles along a proposed central transit corridor from Britomart to Newmarket.

The overall transit project, due to start early next year after a six-month delay, is expected to cost up to $32 million even if the beams do not have to be replaced.

Although the bridge will be officially closed to ambulances as well, Mr Long said exceptions could be made. All other vehicles will have to take detour routes to Auckland City Hospital via Grafton Rd and Khyber Pass Rd.