Contractor

SkyPath morphs into expensive standalone bridge

It started out a decade ago as a $16 million, privately funded SkyPath project attached to Auckland’s harbour bridge, and has now morphed into a $685 million, tax-payer funded cycle and walking bridge to be built alongside the harbour bridge.

Which begs the question, with the mass of other cycling projects around the country, how long will the current cycling fad last? Will future generations keep doing what their parents and grandparents found so fashionable?

There’s also the wealth gap among users. As New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke points out; “Cyclists are, on average, wealthier than other commuters. This will be especially the case for the lucky cyclists in the expensive suburbs at either end of SkyPath 2.0. It’s astounding that a Labour Government is championing such a regressive, elitist project.
“Looking at successive Governments’ track record on major projects like this, it’s fair to expect further delays and cost blowouts. We’re urging the Government to drop its infatuation with the lycra lobby and allocate this money to transport projects that benefit the many, not the few.”

At least it is good news for some contractors.

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