'Whole community effort' to get vital New Brighton bridge across the line

Politicians are taking credit for their role in getting $38.5 million in Government funding secured for the Pages Rd bridge replacement. Reporter Dylan Smits takes a look back at the journey to ‘build the bridge’.

The Government recently confirmed it will cover about half of the $75.4m total pricetag for Christchurch's Pages Rd bridge project.

It will save Christchurch City Council from footing the whole bill.

The bridge is considered a critical lifeline for New Brighton and Southshore in the event of an emergency evacuation, such as a tsunami.

Nearly 100-years-old, it has been damaged since the 2011 earthquake but more than 13,000 vehicles a day still cross the bridge.

Mayor Phil Mauger and Coastal Ward city councillor Celeste Donovan have both touted their personal input in getting the funding secured.

“I’m thrilled the Government has listened and is helping fund this key project for our city,” said Mauger.

The mayor said he had a number of discussions about funding for the bridge project with former Transport Minister Simeon Brown, including showing him the bridge firsthand when he was in Christchurch last year.

Donovan said it was a “massive milestone” for the coastal community.

“It’s more than a bridge in a lot of ways. It’s what connects us to the rest of Christchurch.”

South Island Minister James Meager said there has been “increasing urgency” to replace the bridge.

“I’m pleased that the NZTA board have endorsed the business case for the $75.4m Pages Rd bridge renewal project and approved co-funding from the National Land Transport Fund,” he said.

The funding is not just to replace the bridge, but also to upgrade and raise some of the surrounding roads.

Construction is expected to start in 2028. It has not been smooth sailing to acquire Government funding for the project.

The project languished in city council long term planning for many years after the earthquakes.

The bridge had strengthening work carried out in 2015, but engineering reports have cast doubt on its earthquake resilience.

A failed tsunami siren test in April brought more public attention to the importance of the bridge as an evacuation route.

“If we had a tsunami, the bridge will be designed in a way to move as many people across as possible, which is fundamental,” said Donovan.

She said it was her mission upon election in 2021 to keep the funding budgeted in the city council’s long term plans, to make sure the Government understood it was a priority project for the city.

“When I first got to council, some work had been done, but not a huge amount of resource was there for staff to progress it.”

Donovan had substantial support around the council table to make the bridge project more of a priority for city council funding.

However, it needed to be prioritised in Canterbury’s 10-year regional land transport plan to get the Government to contribute.

Donovan said this became a problem mid-last year while the plan was being drafted by the regional transport committee, which is mostly made up of Canterbury mayors.

“The bridge had been number one in terms of priorities, but it got dropped down to number 12,” she said.

“With these transport projects, you need to be making your best case for funding, and 12 does not really cut it.”

Transport projects receive Government funding partly based on how highly they are ranked on regional transport plans.

The city council sent Donovan and Harewood Ward city councillor Aaron Keown to an Environment Canterbury council meeting to plead the case for the bridge to be re-prioritised.

"We needed to go in and lobby them and make sure they understood just how vital the bridge is for Christchurch.

"Otherwise ratepayers would end up paying the whole tab, which isn’t acceptable,” said Donovan.

Having the final sign-off on the plan, ECan then agreed to move the bridge project up the list to rank four.

Mauger himself is a member of the regional transport committee.

He said an “operational prioritisation matrix” used to develop the transport plan is what led to the bridge being lowered to rank 12 in the draft version.

"The council highlighted its importance to the committee as a key lifeline project for New Brighton and it was raised to rank fourth in the final plan,” he said.

Christchurch East Labour MP Reuben Davidson said the community push for the bridge project also helped pressure the Government to approve the funding.

"It was really a whole community effort to get this funded.”

Davidson and Labour MPs started a ‘build the bridge’ petition last year and held a protest meeting at the bridge.