Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Transport Minister Michael Wood lay out the options for a second Waitematā harbour crossing with construction expected to start in 2029. Video / NZ Herald
The Government will confirm it has brought forward the construction of the additional Waitematā crossing - likely a tunnel - from the 2040s to the 2020s this morning, when Prime Minister Chris Hipkins meets with Auckland business leaders.
Hipkins and his Minister for Auckland and Minister for TransportMichael Wood will make a pitch for the Auckland vote by returning to some of the business leaders who Hipkins met shortly after becoming leader and affirming their commitments to the city.
Hipkins will confirm a commitment made after Labour cancelled its plans for an Auckland cycle bridge that the second crossing’s construction would be brought forward from the 2030s.
“We are bringing it significantly forward. In the version of ATAP that we inherited when we came into government this project was a 2040s project. In the previous version of ATAP we advanced it to the 2030s. The decisions that we are having now are about advancing that further,” Wood said last year.
As well as the construction date, Hipkins will also announce the five options for the new crossing and the way they will link up with the Government’s other key Auckland infrastructure project: Auckland light rail.
The Government is keen to link the crossing up with light rail, allowing the future light rail line to take people across the harbour. The current light rail plans are for the line to run from Britomart to the Airport, but Hipkins announced earlier this year that it would be built in stages.
That means the first part to be built might not be the section adjacent to the crossing.
He began his tenure as prime minister with a pitch to Auckland businesses and voters, some of whom felt alienated by long lockdowns and frustrated by the recent floods.
He revived the Minister for Auckland portfolio in his first reshuffle and his first outing as prime minister was to visit Auckland business leaders.
Hipkins will come armed with a key statistic: over the five years 2017-2023, the party has spent $11,872,082,335 on Auckland infrastructure.
That spend tops the $10,511,786,879 National spent during its nine years in office.
This might be slightly awkward - one of the people he is set to speak to is Auckland Business Chamber chief executive Simon Bridges, who was National’s transport minister for some of those nine years.
A spokesperson from the Prime Minister’s Office told the Herald the “Prime Minister will be making a major infrastructure announcement for Auckland tomorrow morning”.
The next second crossing will begin construction by the end of the decade. Photo / Malay Nayak
“The first step of delivering on his commitment from earlier in the year to continue Labour’s record levels of infrastructure investment to turn around the lost decade of investment following the GFC,” he said.
Hipkins will talk about the completion of the Eastern Busway, the Northern Busway extension, the Old Māngere Bridge Replacement, and the Puhinui Interchange.
The Eastern busway in particular will mean 24,000 more Aucklanders will live within 1km of a rapid transit station.
