Whanganui District Council transport manager Damian Wood told the council’s operations and performance committee those figures put it outside NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi’s low-cost low-risk funding, which was originally secured in 2021.
Projects in that category must be under $2m in value.
“As a result, we need to go through a business case process with NZTA and that is going to delay this project,” he said.
“In the meantime, we are looking at some temporary repairs to the surface and handrails of the bridge structure to keep it in safe condition for users.”
Without the funding, the council would have to cover 100 per cent of the cost instead of 40 per cent.
Councillor Rob Vinsen asked if the new business case to NZTA Waka Kotahi was likely to succeed and if it did when the public could expect construction to begin.
He said several people had asked when the walkway would be fixed.
Wood said he was confident the council had a strong case but ultimately, the decision sat with NZTA.
His report to the council said a submission would be presented to a future annual plan to secure the necessary council funding.
Whanganui District councillor Ross Fallen. Photo / Bevan Conley
The next annual plan will be signed off at the end of June 2025.
Essential repairs will be completed before June 30 this year, with the Whanganui Roading Alliance - a partnership between the council and Downer - to undertake temporary patching of the worst areas of the bridge at an estimated cost of $10,000.
The pedestrian bridge is the only upper river accessway between Whanganui East and Aramoho for pedestrians, bicycles, scooters and mobility scooters.
It is currently 1.5m wide but the eventual upgrade will increase it to 2.5m.
The main train bridge, owned by KiwiRail, was built in the 1870s.
Councillor Ross Fallen said he had been following progress on the pedestrian bridge for the past eight years, with work being “on again, off again” throughout that time.
He asked if the planned maintenance included closing the gaps in the walking surface - “where you can see the river below you”.
“We will do what we can to tie through until we get funding to renew the asset, but it is an asset that’s in need of renewal.”
Wood said he was confident funding would be secured before a decision to close the pedestrian bridge completely would need to be made.
Council chief executive David Langford said the council followed national standards for bridge inspections.
“We make sure we have thorough structural inspections that are high frequency, followed by less frequent visual inspections.
“We are very conservative with our approach to bridges because the consequences of failure are so great. We don’t push bridges to their absolute limits before we replace them.”
Langford said if there was any shadow of doubt in terms of the bridge’s safety, it would be closed.
Mike Tweed is an assistant news director and multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.
