page_title: Auckland Harbour Bridge
section_title: Protests
hierarchical_section_title: Auckland Harbour Bridge / Proposed walk- and cycleway / Protests
caption_attribution_description: English: Protesters for a walk- and cycleway across the Auckland Harbour Bridge, between Auckland City, and North Shore City in New Zealand, shown crossing the bridge, near one of the variable message signs on the northbound approach viaduct. The protesters swarmed onto the bridge after several individuals made their way around police barriers and walked / cycled onto the motorway, upon which the whole northbound traffic was stopped by police and highway workers, in turn animating the rest of the crowd to join them on the now-closed lanes (with police deciding to abandon the attempt to turn them back).
context_page_description: The Auckland Harbour Bridge is an eight-lane motorway bridge over the Waitematā Harbour in Auckland, New Zealand. It joins St Marys Bay on the Auckland city side with Northcote on the North Shore side. It is part of State Highway 1 and the Auckland Northern Motorway. The bridge is operated by the NZ Transport Agency. It is the second-longest road bridge in New Zealand, and the longest in the North Island.
  The original inner four lanes, opened in 1959, are of box truss construction. Two lanes that were added to each side in 1968–1969 are of orthotropic box structure construction and are cantilevered off the original piers. The bridge is 1,020 m long, with a main span of 243.8 metres, rising 43.27 metres above high water, allowing ships access to the deepwater wharf at the Chelsea Sugar Refinery, one of the few such wharves west of the bridge, the proposed Te Atatū port not having been built.
  While often considered an Auckland icon, criticism has included complaints that it mimics the Sydney Harbour Bridge in copyist fashion. Many see the construction of the bridge without walking, cycling, and rail facilities as a big oversight.
context_section_description: On Sunday, 24 May 2009, thousands of people crossed the bridge as a part of a protest by GetAcross against the bridge not providing walking and cycling access, and against what the group perceives to be the authorities' negative and obstructionist attitude towards such access. A crossing either as part of the protest or as part of the official 50-year anniversary celebrations had been forbidden by NZTA because of the costs and traffic difficulties claimed for a managed crossing. However, after several speeches, including by Auckland Regional Council Chairman Mike Lee, several people made their way around the police cordon onto the bridge. At that stage police closed the northbound lanes to traffic, bringing State Highway 1 to a stop. The remainder of the protesters moving onto the bridge, which was not resisted any more by the police. No accidents, violence or arrests were reported, and protesters left the bridge approximately an hour later, many having crossed to the North Shore and back.
  The protest created a wide spectrum of responses in the media and in public perception, from being labelled a dangerous stunt representative of an increasingly lawless, anarchic society to being considered a successful signal to authorities to give more weight to the demands and the public backing of the walk and cycleway proponents. Authorities noted that they were investigating whether any of the protesters would face fines or charges. NZTA representatives noted that they were disappointed at what they considered the broken word of the organisers of the protest, and remarked that it would take 30 more years before walking and cycling could likely be provided (see also "Second Harbour Crossing" below). NZTA were criticised as having brought the situation at least partly onto themselves by choosing the easy route of forbidding the protest crossing. Several political protest marches (especially hikois) had been allowed to cross the bridge.
caption: Protesters in favour of a walk and cycleway surge onto the bridge, May 2009.
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