Kerre Woodham: It's time to commit to the infrastructure we need to future proof New Zealand

It will be the single biggest piece of infrastructure that New Zealand will build. Remember when Shane Jones' Northport was going to be the single biggest piece of infrastructure? Well, now that's gone the way of the dodo. So the single biggest piece of infrastructure that New Zealand will build in our lifetimes, will come when the Government makes the decision on what a new Auckland Harbour crossing will look like. The time for discussion and debate is over, there simply isn't that luxury. We've been faffing around another crossing for decades.  

New Zealand Transport Agency released two June 2025 reports relating to the current bridge's —the only bridge's— state of wear, and the documents show that many areas of the bridge are vulnerable and increasingly fraying under use. The annual maintenance and repair costs now surpass $25 million. And I suppose when you're 67 years old, you're not as strong as you used to be and you need a bit of extra work. You might have seen the images of the bridge wobbling and wavering. As someone who uses the bridge just about every single day and makes at least two crossings, I feel like I'm playing Russian roulette on wheels every time I drive over it. I think, well, here we go. She's been a good life. No one can say I was taken too soon. Hoots away and off we go. And then when you get to the other side, you think, well, we live another day.  

There are approximately 170–180,000 vehicles crossing that bridge daily, with some days having more than 200,000 crossings. It is considered the busiest section of State Highway in New Zealand, serving as a critical transport connection for more than 64 million vehicles annually. It's not just about Aucklanders; it affects far more New Zealanders than that. But from the day the Harbour Bridge opened in 1959 there have been calls for another alternate crossing. In 1987 and 1988, studies for tunnels and additional bridge structures were conducted. In 2008, Option 2C was developed – a major plan involving two new tunnels. In 2021, I remember that a $785 million walking and cycle bridge was announced, oh, and then cancelled within four months. But the consultants earned themselves a good whack. 2023, the Government revealed five new distinct options including tunnels, light rail, and bridges. And ‘24 to ‘26 continued debate over the bridge versus the tunnel options. And you had Mayor Wayne Brown's Meola Reef Bridge proposal, which seemed absolutely barking to me – none of the benefits of that were explained properly.  

So now it's been narrowed down to two options, and Transport Minister Chris Bishop is confident he can make it happen. And as he told Heather du Plessis Allan, he is engaging with all the other parties for their support. 

“I do not want to be the Transport Minister who announces, you know, a big pie in the sky plan and says we're going to do this and we're going to do that and it all turns to custard and it doesn't actually end up happening. I'm going about this in a very deliberate way. We're taking a very evidence-led approach. We've been engaging with the market. We've had a barge in the harbour doing geotech work. We've had extensive studies into it. So I'm just going about this in the right way and it's going to the NZTA board for a decision in terms of a preferred option next month, and then it'll come to Cabinet and we'll be engaging with other parties around it.” 

Right, so next month, what do you think? What's it going to be? A tunnel or another bridge? It would be great to see other options, like the cycling, like the walking. As a tourist attraction, it'd be fantastic to have the cycling and the walking options. But ultimately, we need to commit. This country, successive governments, and successive generations of voters, has put off doing the hard stuff for far too long. Next month will be about a decade too late, but at least there'll be an option on the table, and we have to act on it, and we have to ensure that there's cross party support. And hopefully, the other parties don't play silly buggers and play hard to get and want all sorts of baubles to get the support, because it is far too important for that. It's time to put on our big girls' and big boys' undies and commit to this sort of infrastructure, the sort of infrastructure we need to future proof New Zealand. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Carrywood and Mornings podcast from News Talk.
Said b.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
It will be the single biggest piece of infrastructure that
New Zealand will build. Remember when Shane Jones Northport was
going to be the single piece of biggest piece of infrastructure.
Well now that's gone the way of the DODO. So
the single biggest piece of infrastructure that New Zealand will
build in our lifetimes. When the Government makes the decision

(00:35):
on what a new Auckland Harbor crossing will look like,
the time for discussion and debate is over. There. Simply
isn't that luxury? We've been faffing around another crossing for decades.
New Zealand Transport Agency released two June twenty twenty five

(00:55):
reports relating to the current bridges the only bridges State
of Where and the documents show that many areas of
the bridge are vulnerable and in increasingly fraying under use.
The annual maintenance and repair costs now surpass twenty five
million dollars. And I suppose when you're sixty seven years old,

(01:17):
you're not as strong as you used to be and
you need a bit of extra work. You might have
seen the images of the bridge Warpling and Wavering. As
someone who uses the bridge just about every single day
and makes at least two crossings, I feel like I'm
playing Russian Roulette on wheels. Every time I drive over it,

(01:37):
I think, well, here we go. She's been a good life.
No one can say I was taken too soon. Hopes
were hay, and off we go, and then when you
get to the other side, you think, well, we live
another day. There are approximately one hundred and seventy to
one hundred and eighty thousand vehicles crossing that bridge daily,

(01:58):
with some days more than two hundred thousand crossings. It
is considered the busiest section of state highway in New Zealand,
serving as a critical transport connection for more than sixty
four million vehicles annually. It's not just about Aucklanders. It
effects are more New Zealanders than that. But from the

(02:20):
day the Harbor Bridge opened in nineteen fifty nine, there
have been calls for another alternate crossing and eighty seven
eighty eight that's nineteen eighty seven and nineteen eighty eight
studies for tunnels and additional bridge structures were conducted. In
two thousand and eight, Option two C was developed. A
major plan involving two new tunnels and twenty twenty one

(02:43):
Ah remember that a seven hundred and eighty five million
dollar walking and cycle bridge was announced, oh and then
canceled within four months, But the consultants earned themselves a
good whack. Twenty twenty three the government revealed five new
distinct options, including tunnels, the light rail and bridges, and

(03:06):
twenty four to twenty six continued debate over the bridge
versus the tunnel options. You had Mayor Wayne runs Meola
Reef bridge proposal which seemed absolutely barking to me. None
of the none of the benefits of that were explained properly.
So now it's been narrowed down to two options and

(03:27):
Transport Minister Chris Bishop is confident he can make it happen,
and as he told her the Duplicy Ellen, he is
engaging with all the other parties for their support.

Speaker 3 (03:36):
I do not want to be the Transport minister who announces,
you know, a big pie in the sky plan and
says we're going to do this, we're going to do that,
and then it all turns to custod and it doesn't
actually end up happening. I'm going about this in a
very deliberate way. We're taking a very evident lead approach.
We've been engaging with the market. We've had a barge
in the harbor Deurn doing geotech work, We've had extensive
studies into it. So I'm just going about this in

(03:58):
the right way and going to the NVTA board for
a decision in terms of a preferred option next month
to capnet and we'll be engaging with other parties around it.

Speaker 2 (04:09):
Right So next month, what do you think, what's it
going to be a tunnel or another bridge. It would
be great to see other options like the cycling, like
the walking, just as a tourist attraction. It'll be fantastic
to have the cycling and the walking options. But ultimately

(04:31):
we need to commit this country. Successive governments and successive
generations of voters has put off doing the hard stuff
for far too long. Next month will be about a
decade too late, but at least at least there'll be
an option on the table and we have to act

(04:52):
on it, and we have to ensure that there's cross
party support and hopefully the other parties don't play silly
buggers and play hard to get and want all sorts
of baubles to get the support, because it is far
too important for that. It's time to put on our

(05:15):
big Girls and Big Boys undies and commit to this
sort of infrastructure, the sort of infrastructure we need to
future proof New Zealand.

Speaker 1 (05:24):
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