Ashburton’s calls for a second bridge have found support from the chair of Canterbury's transport committee.  

Canterbury Regional Transport Committee chairperson and Timaru Mayor Nigel Bowen said building the second bridge is a project of national significance.

“It’s bigger than just Ashburton.”

Bowen knows all too well the issues, having to leave home 30 minutes earlier to avoid the “Tinwald bottleneck” to be on time to chair the hearing on the draft Canterbury Regional Land Transport Plan 2024-34 .

He made his comments in response to the Ashburton District Council submission where Ashburton Deputy Mayor Liz McMillan expressed support for ranking the second Ashburton/Hakatere River bridge as the top priority project in the region.

The council has been pushing for the bridge for more than 10 years, McMillan said.

“It took the first closure in 2021 for others in the region and around the country to see the importance.”

The May 2021 floods caused high flows and a build-up of debris that had one of the bridge pillars slumped, closing the bridge for several days, she said.

It was then closed again for repairs in August 2021, and  closed again as a precaution following heavy rain in July last year.

“[These closures] highlighted how vulnerable we are.

“We are concerned these closers will be more frequent.”

The closures are an extreme problem, but the log jam of traffic is an increasing concern.

Pink’s recent concert in Dunedin caused a two-hour crawl through Ashburton, she said.

Council chief executive Hamish Riach said the second bridge would be a State Highway 1 enhancement project providing resilience for the current bridge.

That is why he has been urging the committee and Government to consider it a state highway project to be 100% funded by the Crown, as opposed to a local road requiring local contribution.

The council has included the bridge in its draft long-term plan and will “support the government to get this project across the line, but see it as a crown obligation”.

“We have the place right – 500m east of the SH1 bridge, but it should be regarded as a SH1 enhancement project for funding.

“We don’t yet understand how it is to be funded or what if any share is expected from this community and if that’s fair as it’s a project to enhance the state highway network”

The bridge is in the Government’s 10-year transport plan as a road of regional significance, which has raised funding questions, Riach said.

“We don’t know what ‘regional significance’ actually means for funding. We suspect it’s different to a road of national significance.”

The council is seeking clarification on the phrasing and the potential funding, but Riach said he was confident the project would proceed.

National made a commitment to turn the sod in its first term and the council’s advocacy work reminds them of that commitment, Riach said.

“Construction will start in the next two years as the prime minister has said so.”

By Jonathan Leask