Temporary bridge closure for fireworks spectacular

By CHRIS DANIELS transport reporter

The Auckland Harbour Bridge will close for 20 minutes at midnight on New Year's Eve to let smoke clear from a millennium fireworks show.

Transit's regional state highways manager, Terry Brown, says the amount of smoke would make driving on the bridge dangerous.

"There will be 300m of hanging spark fountains in the form of a waterwall under the deck of the bridge, which will hang down five metres and burn for about a minute."

Rockets will also be launched from barges around the harbour, including one just 500m west of the bridge.

Transit's regional traffic operations manager, Derrick Hitchins, said electronic message signs would remind motorists about the bridge closure in days leading up to the event.

The bridge lanes would be shut for 20 minutes from 11.55 pm on New Year's Eve.

Mr Hitchins said Transit planners had looked at traffic flows from past New Year's Eve time-frames and found only 300 cars crossed in the hour between midnight and 1 am.

"The bit we don't know is how many extra cars decide to go over this time. My hope is that people will be actually partying more than ever and not be on the roads."

Techniques learned by police during motorway closures for the Apec summit would be used for the bridge closure.

Transit says it will be only the second time the entire bridge has been closed to traffic since it was built in 1953. It was last closed in 1990 when the buildings housing the mobile lane-changing vehicles were installed.

The midnight fireworks show will also see rockets coming from the Sky Tower, the Domain, Rangitoto Island and several downtown high-rise buildings.