Mangere Bridge
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- For the suburb of the same name at the south end of the bridge, see Mangere Bridge (suburb), New Zealand
Mangere Bridge is a bridge over the Manukau Harbour in south-western Auckland, New Zealand, crossing between the suburb also known as Mangere Bridge and the suburb of Onehunga. Completed in 1983, it carries a four-lane motorway with a cycle and pedestrian lane suspended underneath the west side of it.
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[edit] History
The Mangere Bridge replaced an earlier bridge which is now closed to all but foot traffic and is slowly deteriorating, especially after it sustained damage when a ship accidentally rammed it some years ago. A second ship, the 300 ft container transport Spirit of Resolution, crashed into the old bridge on 8 October 2005 during 140 km/h winds, despite the ship's engines being on full, causing further damage.
It is envisioned that this bridge will be dismantled and replaced by a newly designed footbridge[citation needed].
[edit] Bridge duplication
On 17 May 2006 Finance Minister Michael Cullen announced in the Budget that funds were being allocated to Land Transport New Zealand, to help the National Land Transport Programme accelerate certain projects. This includes bringing forward the widening of the existing crossing of the Manukau Harbour (1983 Mangere Bridge) by duplicating the original to the east. The 2006/07 National Land Transport Programme indicates that only $2.786 million funding is currently approved for investigation of the project. However, Transit New Zealand may apply for additional $1.5 million for further investigation of this project in the current financial year.
A crucial part of the Manukau Harbour Crossing Project, the duplication of the Mangere Bridge will result in the widening of the existing carriageway from four lanes to eight lanes between the Onehunga interchange and the Mahunga Drive/Rimu Road interchange. Bus lanes will be provided on the shoulders of the bridge. The bridge will be duplicated to the east, with a fewer number of piles than the current bridge. However, these piles will be located to match the existing ones, to minimise any negative visual impact. Noise walls are proposed as part of the project along significant lengths of the motorway.
As a wider part of the Manukau Harbour Crossing Project, the motorway will be widened between Walmsley Road in the south and Queenstown Road in the north from four lanes to six lanes. This widening will predominantly take place to the east of the existing motorway. The Onehunga interchange (known as the Gloucester Park Interchange) will be significantly reworked, to provide a more logical link with the motorway, and to ease congestion along Onehunga Harbour Drive. A standard diamond interchange was initially chosen by Transit New Zealand, but after consultation with Auckland City Council this has been reworked into a quarter-diamond design, with the northbound onramp hooking underneath the proposed Neilson Road bridge.
As part of that investigation, Transit New Zealand may consider whether it is worthwhile to toll new capacity to assist in funding its construction. This could be in the form of tolling the new lanes along this route, which would ensure an untolled alternative is available, while the tolled new lanes would be far less congested.
