Artist impression of how the promenade and park will look on what is now Curran St looking towards the harbour bridge. Photo / Eke Panuku
Artist impression of how the promenade and park will look on what is now Curran St looking towards the harbour bridge. Photo / Eke Panuku
The Government's decision to scrap the $785 million cycling bridge across the Waitemata Harbour in response to public pressure has delayed plans for a new waterfront park.
For years now, there has been talk of converting a rundown but popular spot for fishing, walking and cycling into a new parkand completing a new boardwalk around Westhaven through to Curran St in Herne Bay.
The plans for a Harbour Bridge Park at Westhaven feature wide new promenades, upgrading of the seawall and a 1200sq m plaza under the bridge.
There are plans to extend the boardwalk at Westhaven to Curran St in Herne Bay. Photo / Alex Robertson
The project has generous space for walking and cycling, but cars will still have access in a "slow vehicle environment" and parking for 90 cars, the same as now.
The project is budgeted to cost $9m, plus $2m for a possible refurbishment of a marina operations building in the area.
The idea was to bring forward work to start in April next year to align with the cycle bridge landing in Westhaven and a sewer separation project to clean up nearby St Marys Bay, which includes a pumping station in the park.
But in a half-yearly financial update to councillors this week, the council's development arm Eke Panuku said the cancellation of the bike bridge, material shortages and delays in consents and design put the project in the "at-risk" category.
An Eke Panuku spokeswoman said some timing changes are being worked through now that the cycle bridge has been cancelled. The delay on the project is about 12 months, she said.
The view from lower Curran St towards the bridge now. Photo / Eke Panuku
Meanwhile, NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi is planning three walking and cycling events over the Auckland Harbour Bridge next summer.
Cycling groups have been pushing for trials with the aim of having a dedicated lane, but the Waka Kotahi board have said unless there is a significant reduction in traffic in the short term, the network is unable to support dedicated walking and cycling access on the bridge.
The three events will occur from November on a weekend day and use the two east clip-on lanes. The lanes will be open longer for events such as the Auckland Marathon to allow people to walk, cycle, scooter or use a pushchair at their own pace.
Cycling events are planned across the Auckland Harbour Bridge after cyclists forced their way onto the bridge last year calling for a three-month trial. Photo / Dean Purcell
Waka Kotahi said it will cost about $700,000 to hold the three events, including marshalling, fencing hire, ticketing, rubbish removal, event operations and about $100,000 for a public information campaign to minimise disruption to the wider motorway network.
National's transport spokesman Simeon Brown opposed the trials, saying it is a significant amount of money to spend on something which will be highly disruptive to the transport network.
It showed Transport Minister Michael Wood and the Government have not given up on their cycle bridge pet project at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars, he said.
