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.
Ryan Bridge is a New Zealand broadcaster who has worked on many current affairs television and radio shows. He currently hosts Newstalk ZB's Early Edition - where this article was sourced.
9 comments:
The Meola Reef bridge would be the fastest way to add capacity.
From a capacity perspective not that big but the location where the traffic is delivered is very different so the spaghetti junction bottleneck is helped.
Reality is that it should be built for the modest cost involved. Bridge size say 4 lanes current bridge 8 lanes, capacity increase not 50% but more likely 40%.
The ideology of trains, light rail or what ever is simply infantile.
People in Auckland do not work in the "city" like Wellington so why force all to travel through the City center.
Whic proves that we've had two do nothing parties, National and Labour, who've sunk NZ into one of the ten worst performing economies in the world. All talk, no action. The PM is jumping onto planes and choppers delivering only blah blah. Labour spent endless money on stupid consultants on light rail which the Nats said proved they couldn't do anything. Now Nats spend endless money on consultants on harbour crossing which proves they can't as well. In the 1920s it took one year to build = from digging site to opening = the Empire State Building in NY. In the 1940s army engineers built bridges to span longer crossings than Auckland Harbour in weeks. Luxon has had three years to finish a new harbour crossing. He only can fight coups & repeat his Unilever product comms line = we're "getting back to basics". He basically can't do anything.
I was rolling round the floor laughing when I heard this one Ryan. You know what is sad some will fall for the election baiting. Its up there with the " Northern Pathway". Im still waiting for light rail to the airport. Thats the airport that had the talk feast over a second runway. I know just another pipe dream for this sad and sorry city. Don't get me started on the 3 and 4 lane perpetual traffic jam, they call a motorway. Seriously though it is the 280th to 300th biggest city by population in the world.
I have a question ?? for everyone.
"Over past years how many times have we had someone, rise, and verbal that Auckland 'needs' a new harbour crossing"????
And with each verbal announcement (that have gone no where) how many times has a specific area been identified as the 'potential' point to build said bridge.
Wake Up 'dudes' a second bridge - yup more road congestion across, thru, into & out of a City that has failed over past years to manage roading.
A City that took to long to get light rail running.
100% fishing for votes. Wgtn votes Labour / Green. Urgent projects in 2023 announced as canned recently as there is no money. However Auckland who vote National as well as the others now have a harbour crossing - either bridge or tunnel on the agenda. Really !
It would have been better to take all the money spent on consultants and use it to pay people to live anywhere but Auckland. There are limits to growth, but those clods in Parliament will never admit that.
Don't forget, if they did start building there would be 8 supervisors with clipboards and hard hats for every worker with a shovel. Then after they build it, they would find mistakes and need to redo big sections. Consultants then would be hired who report that the project didn't have enough supervisors.
Doesn't it make you wonder how they managed to build the existing bridge in the first place. And even then the pollys said it was too expensive and forced a reduction in the number of lanes to "save money". That really worked well didn't it? So build the new one and toll both bridges realistically to pay for it.
I am an 84 year old highly intelligent woman... no engineer, geologist or cost accountant... HERE is the basic text of an email I sent various leaders regarding the wretched bridge....
'I read today of further ideas on the harbour crossing. Some months back, I emailed the Auckland Mayor with ideas to develop the Meola crossing... [map included which I cannot locate now] and had no acknowledgement even by an underling..... [says much of the man]
I live in Chatswood in the Kauri bush, a short walk from Soldiers Bay. My bright idea in support of the Meola Reef crossing had a land-level road on/following the reef, with a short bridge to allow yachts beneath, [cargo ships to access Chelsea still] and the road, instead of ruining native bush and demolition of North Shore business and housing to join the northern highway causing bottle necks north, and still allowing the naval shipping to Kauri point. I suggested the road then run at beach level along the coast of Beachhaven to join the M16 at Coatesville. A car ride similar to that east about Tamaki Drive. That would give far north bound traffic the capacity to avoid the central city. And no need for deep geological work and billions $$$$." ends. A no-brainer...
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