Editorial: Wynyard Quarter bridge closure - free ferry trial not enough, Aucklanders deserve proper infrastructure

Work underway on the repair to the Wynyard Quarter footbridge. Photo / Jason Oxenham

Opinion

EDITORIAL

After several temporary closures in the past few months, Eke Panuku announced in March the pedestrian bridge on Wynyard Quarter would remain closed “until further notice”.

In a statement released by Auckland Council’s urban regeneration organisation, Eke Panuku, it said technical work has been underway since November to resolve issues associated with the bridge.

“Earlier this month, a technical fault was discovered with the bridge’s cabling. When repair works were undertaken, a deeper fault was found with the bridge’s winch. This may require significant work to resolve.”

It was one of many technical problems that have plagued the $3.7 million bridge during the past few months. The drawbridge - its two spans lift up and down to allow boats to use the waterway - lurched through summer with various issues, forcing its temporary closure on some occasions.

Initially, the structure broke in November last year when the hydraulic brake sensors on the bridge failed. It was reopened a week later, however, on January 12, another “intermittent” fault was discovered and the bridge was closed again.

Work currently happening to get the bridge working again could take up to nine months, but frustrated business owners in the area cannot wait that long.

The bridge will be closed for the next few months. Photo / Michael Craig

Angry restaurant and bar operators are facing a huge drop in revenue and are calling for more urgent action from the council, with some saying that even that will be too late to save some jobs.

For some businesses in the area, the closure of the bridge is responsible for a drop of revenue of at least 50 per cent, with pedestrians using the bridge and other foot traffic accounting for around three-quarters of their trade.

Local business operators are now making difficult cost-cutting decisions: reducing hours for staff, opening late or closing early and, even worse for some, laying off workers. They fear some waterfront eateries may even close for good.

Deputy Mayor Desley Simpson says the long-term closure of the bridge, following successive temporary closures, is becoming a “reputational issue” for the city.

From May 11, free ferries will take pedestrians across Auckland’s Viaduct basin while the bridge remains out of action. Each of the small ferries used in the trial will be able to transport 60 people, between Te Wero Island and Karanga Plaza, on the outward side of the marina.

Statistics collected in 2022 showed an average of 6574 pedestrians used the bridge on a typical weekday, while 9094 used it at the weekend. The bridge lifted about 25 times a day, taking about five minutes each time.

In the meantime, there’s no rent relief for struggling business owners in the area, no free car parking to attract customers to the Wynyard Quarter, and no concrete date for reopening the bridge. Affected business owners are being told to wait - but they don’t know until when.

A trial of free ferries is a temporary fix - not a long-term solution. Sure, the bridge will reopen again in a few months but that structure, built in 2011, was only ever intended as a temporary solution. Yet, no plan for a more permanent solution seems to exist. In fact, a new bridge, costing tens of millions of dollars, appears to be totally out of the question, in an age of council and public spending cutbacks. Will we just continue to patch things up as we go, ad infinitum?

Aucklanders have been through a lot in the past few years. From the long Covid lockdowns to the deadly floods, the city has been trying to rebuild itself from multiple disasters. The people who call Auckland home deserve a city that works and they deserve to know those in charge are invested in a long-term vision for the city’s future. Is expecting our infrastructure to simply function a bridge too far?