\u201cThat\u2019s what the Government\u2019s working hard on at the moment,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Transport and Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop\u00a0said a decision on the preferred route and method of Auckland’s proposed second harbour crossing will be made by mid-year. Photo \/ Jason Dorday<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re planning on making a decision mid this year, so the next few months, in terms of the options for basically a bridge versus a tunnel.\u201c<\/p>\n
Once finalised, the decision will go to the NZTA board before landing in Cabinet for approval.<\/p>\n
Bishop said \u201ca considerable amount of work\u201d would then be needed around funding the crossing, and expressed his desire to reach an agreement with parties across the aisle.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to make a decision that … the Labour Party doesn\u2019t support,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will want to take a bipartisan approach to it and act in the national interest, because what\u2019s important is that the public have certainty around exactly what we\u2019re doing for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Bishop acknowledged Labour\u2019s concerns that some projects – like those in the Government\u2019s Roads of National Significance (RoNS) programme – have been announced without funding<\/a>, he said the Government was trying to create a \u201clong-term pipeline\u201d that would last through changes in government.<\/p>\n \u201cArguably one of the challenges with New Zealand infrastructure over the last 10 to 20 years is that politicians have made a series of promises on both sides of the aisle, may I say … but the money\u2019s not actually there for them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we\u2019re trying to do is be really transparent and upfront around what\u2019s funded and what isn\u2019t, and get that pipeline going out into the future.\u201d<\/p>\n Bishop said building a second crossing will be expensive whether it\u2019s a bridge or tunnel, so planning and funding options – through a toll or otherwise – will need to be worked through in good faith.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got construction costs going up, we\u2019ve got revenue declining, and we\u2019ve got existing funding constraints. <\/p>\n \u201cSo I\u2019m just being really upfront with the public about the fact that there\u2019s not enough money in the system to do everything that people want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n NZTA\u2019s reports warn of the current bridge\u2019s ageing infrastructure as key components reach their capacity and design life\u2019s end.<\/p>\n Keeping it operational will require increasingly complex and costly maintenance, with more closures, truck limits and other disruptions potentially on the cards in the near-future.<\/p>\n John Tookey, a professor in construction management at AUT, told Ryan Bridge TODAY that while the immediate risk of the current bridge failing wasn\u2019t high, NZTA\u2019s reports highlight \u201csimply, the fact that the infrastructure needs to be supplemented [or] replaced\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been saying it for 30 years,\u201d Tookey said, adding that the reports drew attention to the bridge\u2019s previously acknowledged weaknesses.<\/p>\n \u201cThe structural limits associated with the piers has been exceeded, there are massive safety margins associated with any structural solution of several times over. <\/p>\n \u201cSo again, immediate problem – no – but there\u2019s only so much kicking this can down the road we can realistically do.\u201d<\/p>\n NZTA completed land- and sea-based geotechnical investigations in the Waitemat\u0101 Harbour at the end of last year<\/a> to help inform their decision on the proposed crossing\u2019s route and method.<\/p>\n Over 130 boreholes were drilled, with the harbour\u2019s topography mapped and soil and groundwater samples collected to better understand its ground conditions.<\/p>\nReports proactively released by NZTA warn the Auckland Harbour Bridge, now 67 years old, is at capacity and fraying under use. Photo \/ Brett Phibbs<\/p>\n