Subj : Northland bridge finally opens, nine years after it was promised
To   : All
From : News Person
Date : Sat Feb 24 2024 01:24 pm

One of Northland's most keenly anticipated bridges is set to open this
evening, almost nine years after it was promised during a hotly contested
by-election campaign.


The old one-way Kaeo Bridge has long been a summer chokepoint on State
Highway 10 between the Bay of Islands and Doubtless Bay.


It was too narrow for some trucks, contributed to the flooding that plagued
Kaeo, and was the scene of occasional road-rage incidents sparked by drivers
unfamiliar with the give-way rules for one-way bridges.


From tonight, however, all that will be history.


The new two-lane bridge is not just wider but also higher and, at 110 metres,
twice as long as the old bridge, which will improve water flow during floods.


The $40 million project, which got underway in earnest in 2021, includes a
roundabout on the Kaeo side of the river to improve traffic flow.


It is a crucial link in the only highway connecting Kaitaia with the rest of
the country since the 2022 closure of State Highway 1 over the Mangamuka
Ranges.


Long-time Kaeo resident and community board representative Bruce Mills said
the new bridge had lifted people's spirits.


For too long Kaeo had suffered from floods and neglect, but now it was on the
way up.


"It's a huge thing. The old bridge created all sorts of issues over many,
many years. It's also the whole image of having this beautiful big bridge
there. It's very impressive. Kaeo's been downtrodden for many years so this
is a real plus."


Mills said the old bridge was "very, very narrow" so trucks had only a few
centimetres to spare on each side, and the guard rails were always being
dented and replaced.


The sharp, cliff-hugging turn also made it impossible for some trucks to get
onto the old bridge.


Mills said Kaeo had double cause for celebration this week because a new
"walk bridge" had also opened in the centre of town.

It replaced a narrow section of footpath with a dangerous drop onto the
highway, which was "exceptionally scary" when big trucks rumbled past.


It was also too narrow for wheelchairs, mobility scooters and the like.


The new pedestrian bridge was not just safer and more accessible, it was also
designed as a town focal point and gathering place.


Mills said he had been trying to get the footbridge built for the past 25
years, a third of his life.


"So these two bridges are lifting Kaeo tremendously," he said.


Plans for the new highway bridge, just north of town, go back to the
Northland by-election sparked by the resignation of MP Mike Sabin.


Then Transport Minister Simon Bridges travelled to Kaeo in March 2015 to
unveil National's Ten Bridges policy, in which the party pledged to replace
ten one-way bridges on the Twin Coast Discovery Route.


It later transpired that one of the bridges was not a bridge at all, but a
narrowing of the road between two massive kauri trees in Waipoua Forest.


National lost the by-election to New Zealand First's Winston Peters, but
three of the most critical bridges were completed in 2019.


They were the two Matakohe bridges on State Highway 12 and the Taipa bridge
on State Highway 10.


Work on the Kaeo Bridge was delayed by budget constraints and the Covid-19
pandemic.


A New Zealand Transport Agency spokesperson said, however, today's opening to
two-way traffic was two months ahead of schedule.


Work to demolish the old bridge and finish the roundabout and connecting
roads would continue, with the project expected to be fully completed by
April.


State Highway 10 through Kaeo township has also been resurfaced in recent
days.


The bridge will formally opened by Transport Minister Simeon Brown and local
iwi at a ceremony in the nearby Kaeo Rugby Club.


rnz.co.nz

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A44 2020/02/04 (Windows/64)
 * Origin: S.W.A.T.S BBS Telnet swatsbbs.ddns.net:2323 (63:10/102)

.