YES! A resounding yes! We are overjoyed to hear that the commissioners have approved the resource consent for Skypath. This is something Aucklanders have wanted, ever since the construction of the Harbour Bridge – and it’s finally within reach.
You can read the full 83 page decision here. Putting our sensible hats on for a second, there are a few final hurdles:
- there’s still the possibility of an appeal
- NZTA needs to give it the final sign-off, with further engineering and operational details
- and Auckland Council needs to agree they accept the business proposal, which will likely go back before Council around the end of the year.
But this is truly a moment to celebrate. As Cycle Action chair Barb Cuthbert says,
“This is absolutely the critical step. Skypath will be the basis from which a city-wide cycle network will grow, and will be the stimulus to make it happen. Huge kudos to Bevan Woodward and the Skypath Trust for their incredible persistence and optimism over the last decade, and to all the pioneers and campaigners over the years.”
Take a moment to contemplate how transformative this will be: it is the missing link that will free up the full capacity of our most iconic structure, unlock a myriad of connecting bike projects on the Shore, and allow Auckland to finally join the world’s great harbour and river cities.
It is frankly amazing to think that when the bridge was first planned, six decades ago, walking and biking access (and rail!) was included — and then discarded, due to last-minute cost-cutting.
Even when the clip-ons were added in the late 1960s, confirmation that cost-cutting had been a shortsighted blunder… no walking and biking access. The promise remained unfulfilled.
Even when bold pioneers in the 1970s made the case – during an ongoing petrol shortage and the introduction of carless days – that it would make sense to make space on the bridge for active travellers? Still no dice.
But bike folk never give up. Remember how passionate the first GetAcross rallies were, in 2008 – 2009? Look at these faces! Barb’s in this one somewhere…
In September, one brave bunch made the dash from Northcote (including Judy Barfoot in her 70s!), to show it could be done. Love the quote from Cycle Action’s then-deputy chair Graeme Knowles:
And, in the following year, when a permit was refused for a 50th anniversary walk and bike across the bridge because it would be “too popular”? This time, the GetAcross bunch broke away en masse and got across anyway! More pics here.
Finally, let’s flashback for a moment to the opening of the bridge in 1959, when Aucklanders were given the first and officially last chance to walk freely across the bridge.
This cheery newsreel is a classic. Note the rueful commentary about how overdue the bridge was, even then… and yet the sheer excitement about how transformative it would be:
“It’s a great day for Auckland. 100 years after the first plans were drawn, the bridge is ready for opening. In 1860, a wooden bridge would have cost 16,000 pounds. This one cost 6 million.”
That’s Auckland in a nutshell. A day late and a dollar short… and proud as punch when we finally get around to it.
This time, we’ve finally caught up with ourselves. Now we can do it right, get ahead, and get across.
Hip hip hooray!
—
For media comment, contact Barb Cuthbert at barbcuth@gmail.com
PS Check out this SkypathTimeline, starting with the petition in 2003/2004, taking in the GetAcross campaign in 2009, and bringing us up to 2013. (NB the actual design for Skypath has been refined since then, and the final version will be even better than you can imagine). And just to hammer it all home, feast your eyes on these before and after images of what it will mean for cycling in Auckland…
