Ryan Bridge: Don't hold your breath for a new Harbour crossing, Auckland
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We've been waiting for decades for somebody to build a new bridge, or a tunnel, or anything across Auckland's harbour.
The consultant bill is now $100 million across the current National and former Labour Governments.
The most galling part of that was the $50m spent on consultants for Labour's plan to put an almost $1 billion cycling bridge over the harbour.
Can you imagine sitting on the car bridge in peak hour traffic, looking across and seeing a gold-plated bike bridge being constructed?
With no option for driving! Madness. 80% of those living in outer urban areas commute by car to work.
So, we're a $100 million down. A lot of the old promises, we're told, didn't even involve anybody going to have a look at the sea floor to investigate.
It was all done with computer modelling.
The barge in the harbour we've talked about on this show previously with Wayne Brown... that's apparently doing some actual testing.
We now have three plans or options on the go:
- A new study on the costs, timeframe, and benefits of a bridge or tunnel.
- A new $1 million Meola reef study as a sop to Wayne Brown.
- And a private consortium with an idea we know very little about.
For anyone about to hit rush hour traffic, don't hold your breath for any quick fixes, or even decisions, anytime soon.
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