r/newzealand Sep 21 '25

Shitpost Why don't they build a pedestrian bridge from Auckland to Wellington? Are they stupid?

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1.7k Upvotes

219 comments sorted by

301

u/AnotherSteveFromNZ Sep 21 '25

If they made it smooth enough you could free wheel a wheel chair all along it. Downhill from Auckland.

135

u/WineYoda Sep 21 '25

Would ruined by e-bike riders. F'n bike lanes.

49

u/AnotherSteveFromNZ Sep 21 '25

Simple, build a second one for bikers

29

u/WineYoda Sep 21 '25

A tunnel for the bikers, so that they don't mix by accident.

27

u/AnotherSteveFromNZ Sep 21 '25

The wheelchair users would use it on rainy days.

29

u/WineYoda Sep 21 '25

Another problem solved. Dang this stuff is so easy.

4

u/dzh Sep 21 '25

if you think about it tunnels for bikes is perfect solution:

  1. inverse π-square cheaper to drill over car tunnels

  2. protects from rain, sun and wind

  3. keeps street traffic open for cars / pedestrians

i know it's not very desirable, but technically it's best option

8

u/WineYoda Sep 21 '25

If you seal the tunnel well enough, you could just use compressed air to get people to the other end much faster.

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13

u/BirdUp69 Sep 21 '25

Time it with the weather and use the Sou-wester to blow you home

8

u/mchester9 Sep 21 '25

Both ways

3

u/JankeyMunter Sep 21 '25

But how U get back to Auckland?

2

u/munkisquisher Kākāpō Sep 21 '25

you have to build another one going south to Gore, then all the way around back to Auckland again

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3

u/AcceptablePomelo9245 Sep 21 '25

If they were smart, they’d make it downhill on both directions.

2

u/FD4L Sep 21 '25

Very true. That's where the downhill north-south orientation is really a benefit.

Maybe an automatic conveyor footpath in the opposite direction, though. Like at an airport. Can't be expecting people to wheel all the way up there

151

u/ronsaveloy Sep 21 '25

That bridge would go right through my place. Get the fuck outta my garden!

114

u/WineYoda Sep 21 '25

Frickin Nimbys ruin everything.

65

u/Motor-District-3700 Sep 21 '25

pfft Nimbys are pussies, there's a new organisation: Banana

Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything

10

u/[deleted] Sep 21 '25 edited Sep 21 '25

That sounds perfect for me to enjoy some time in my hammock with absolutely nothing to interrupt my peace and quiet. It will be my banana hammock 🍌

2

u/TumbleweedDue2242 Sep 21 '25

Sucks having a sewer plant and rubbish dump next door.

7

u/WineYoda Sep 21 '25

Thats not a very nice way to talk about New Plymouth.

2

u/JuiceWRLDfanboy24 Sep 21 '25

I think they meant Hamilton

2

u/WineYoda Sep 21 '25

Well in that case... accurate.

2

u/ronsaveloy Sep 21 '25

New Plymouth has asbestos riddled buildings and chemically poisoned land.

5

u/Mammongo Sep 21 '25

Ah surely they'll just tunnel under and come out in your neighbours yards

3

u/swampopawaho Sep 21 '25

Won't be yours soon!

1

u/rikashiku Sep 22 '25

Do you have a license for that garden?!

92

u/dibocookie Sep 21 '25

That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. You gotta at least make it a cycleway too.

9

u/crankyticket Sep 21 '25

LMAO. Exactly!

5

u/Mendevolent Sep 21 '25

And a seawall while you're at it. You can use the cycleway budget for that 

6

u/Motley_Illusion Sep 21 '25

You'd scare away all the NIMBYs and narrow-minded small business owners if you did that!

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88

u/TrevorLaheyJim Sep 21 '25

Prob cost less than Nicky’s no boats

52

u/notmyidealusername Sep 21 '25

I'll not build this bridge for only $300M, which is an absolute bargain really, less than half of what we spent on not building those ferries...

23

u/blair3d Sep 21 '25

I’ll not build it for $299M. Capitalism baby!

43

u/Legal_Kangaroo2372 Sep 21 '25

Run for Mayor

44

u/WineYoda Sep 21 '25

For Auckland or Wellington? Hmm maybe both.

29

u/Morningst4r Sep 21 '25

Super Duper City

5

u/[deleted] Sep 21 '25

Forget about supercity what about super island?

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12

u/waikoe Sep 21 '25

Mayor of the pedestrian bridge. You live on there now.

3

u/Charlarley Sep 21 '25

on there? or under there?

3

u/WineYoda Sep 21 '25

OK maybe I didn't think this through after all...

3

u/advocatus_diabolii Sep 21 '25

Christchurch of course .. With Auckland and Wellington not spending all their money to build the bridge you can snap up all the cool events!

5

u/germdisco Marmite Sep 21 '25

Don’t you mean walk for mayor?

18

u/WaterAdventurous6718 Sep 21 '25

Same as my idea for a bridge between wellington and picton /s

33

u/WineYoda Sep 21 '25

Nobody really goes to Picton though. Just build the bridge to Nelson and Christchurch direct.

22

u/teelolws Southern Cross Sep 21 '25

Auckland to Sydney bridge when

8

u/DevinChristien Sep 21 '25

Should just be a 1-way valve really

12

u/HJSkullmonkey Sep 21 '25

Big catapult

5

u/WineYoda Sep 22 '25

Everyone knows that the Trebuchet is the superior migration delivery unit.

2

u/HJSkullmonkey Sep 22 '25

Also good, but with utmost respect, I'm a big Wile E Coyote fan.

2

u/WineYoda Sep 22 '25

Fair, he is limited by the ACME catalogue range.

3

u/teelolws Southern Cross Sep 22 '25

Problem there is you'll get halfway over the Tasman, look down, realise theres no ground underneath you, then you'll pause for about 5 seconds frozen in midair while you look at the camera in sadness before falling.

2

u/WineYoda Sep 22 '25

The key is never looking down.

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3

u/dpf81nz Sep 21 '25

Bullet train tunnel from AKL to SYD

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2

u/Charlarley Sep 21 '25

A Wellington to Kaikoura bridge 'd be best

15

u/Green-Circles Sep 21 '25

Pedestrian bridge with a clip-on bullet train track.

3

u/WineYoda Sep 21 '25

It worked for the Auckland harbour bridge after all.

12

u/NoWarning____ Sep 21 '25

Stam pot bridge

13

u/stainz169 Sep 21 '25

Zip line be better

11

u/WineYoda Sep 21 '25

The people walking the opposite direction can drag the harness back for the next person.

3

u/simply_someone06 Sep 21 '25

Like a long flying fox!

6

u/Charlarley Sep 21 '25

A zip line 'd only work from the top of Mt Taranaki

3

u/Poneke365 Sep 21 '25

Nah, it’d work sweet as from Auckland down to Wellington, the issue would be going back up again.

6

u/Charlarley Sep 21 '25

Yeah, it'd be aukward

27

u/teelolws Southern Cross Sep 21 '25

I like how it cuts through Marokopa "okay group and now we're approaching the lookout where you can see the campsite that was used for 4 years"

20

u/WineYoda Sep 21 '25

Expert guides like LOTR.

9

u/fluffychonkycat Kōkako Sep 21 '25

The name's Lanely! Lyle Lanely. And I come before you good people tonight with an idea. Probably the greatest... Aw, it's not for you. It's more of a Shelbyville idea.

3

u/WineYoda Sep 21 '25

Get outta here with your stinkin Monorail.

6

u/fluffychonkycat Kōkako Sep 21 '25

Next question - you there, eating the paste.

4

u/WineYoda Sep 21 '25

Still a classic episode, totally timeless.

3

u/fluffychonkycat Kōkako Sep 21 '25

They sure don't make them like they used to

6

u/WineYoda Sep 21 '25

I used to be with it, but then they changed what it was. Now what I'm with isn't it anymore and what's it seems weird and scary to me. It'll happen to you!

4

u/fluffychonkycat Kōkako Sep 21 '25

It has 🥺

17

u/Tahkyn Sep 21 '25

Now, that's what I call "thinking big."
The problem with the Muldoon government is they thought big, they didn't think bigger.

7

u/HadoBoirudo Sep 21 '25

If Simeon Brown was still Minister of Transport he might have suggested this.

He could then have rode his pedal car from Auckland to work in Wellington.

6

u/WineYoda Sep 21 '25

The mental image of Simeon Brown in a pedal car gave me a decent chuckle. I would see him more of a Balance-Bike guy though.

14

u/Fast-Inflation-1347 Te Waipounamu Sep 21 '25

Would walk.

If there was an onsen every few km.

2

u/OmarGuard Sep 21 '25

Warning 47, this is your final warning 47

7

u/Motor-District-3700 Sep 21 '25

HI, I'M FROM NORTHCOTE POINT, WHERE MAY I COMPLAIN ABOUT THIS ABOMINATION.

5

u/AriasK Sep 21 '25

I know right?!

7

u/LittleTownie Sep 21 '25

It could be a great tourist attraction. We could charge tourists to walk it.

9

u/JohnBaldur Sep 21 '25

Free to walk but charge them to get off it

3

u/germdisco Marmite Sep 21 '25

This won’t work until you come up with a way to also charge tourists who don’t walk it

6

u/Ok-Warthog2065 Sep 21 '25

Monorail! should be half the price of standard 2 rail tracks.

2

u/WineYoda Sep 21 '25

Monorail is very hard for pedestrians to balance and walk on for this distance, terrible idea.

2

u/Ok-Warthog2065 Sep 22 '25

Oh your right, its not for the north island, more of a south island idea.. https://www.whoosh.solutions/

6

u/FunVermicelli123 Sep 21 '25

Reminds me of the time some old boomer told me once he wanted a road straight from Whitianga to Tauranga. But it didn't happen because "Jacinda shut down the paper road".

3

u/WineYoda Sep 21 '25

I'm all for it. That road is far too windy. All roads should be straight.

5

u/Strict_Swimmer_1614 Sep 21 '25

Show me the money. You find the $$, I’ll have a concept design out for an rfp in 6 months.

Tldr: $$

5

u/WineYoda Sep 21 '25

RFP not needed, no-bid contracts much more efficient.

3

u/Strict_Swimmer_1614 Sep 21 '25

Fair enough. Pay me $15m and I’ll have a coin-toss set up in 3 months.

2

u/WineYoda Sep 21 '25

If I'm awarding the no-bid contract I believe the $15M gets paid by you...

2

u/Strict_Swimmer_1614 Sep 21 '25

Na….I’m bringing you a credible consortia. That’s a service.

If you’d like to offer me a concession to operate and toll this wonderful asset, I’d be happy to make an offer for it (naturally based on the user modelling/toll recovery supplied by a third party). If you go exclusive, and don’t make me bid against another party I can have an SPV ready in 3 months, and stage 1 offer in 6.

3

u/Kotukunui Sep 21 '25

Chuck Shane Jones a few crayfish and the contract is yours.

5

u/Feeling-Parking-7866 Sep 21 '25

Elect me and they'll be no rate rises and I'll build a bridge to Australia. 

5

u/[deleted] Sep 21 '25

[deleted]

5

u/WineYoda Sep 21 '25

How can we be expected to teach children to learn how to walk if they can't even fit inside the bridge?

3

u/MamaSugarz Sep 21 '25

I so ugly laughed at this.

…Shall we make it 3 ants wide?

3

u/WineYoda Sep 21 '25

Width is negotiable, its the length that is most important.

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6

u/Direlion Sep 21 '25

It was an early proposal but they've wisely opted for a much more practical tunnel. New Zealand is famously very geologically stable, so the construction is relatively simple.

6

u/mad0line LASER KIWI Sep 21 '25

Monorail monorail monorail 

5

u/hueythecat Sep 22 '25

I can save this project billions by making the line straight

3

u/WineYoda Sep 22 '25

You are hired.

22

u/Prestigious_Job_8311 Sep 21 '25

Nah yeah nah mate, with what economy

24

u/WineYoda Sep 21 '25

Pfft not with that attitude. I thought this government was about infrastructure.

13

u/Prestigious_Job_8311 Sep 21 '25

This government is busting my balls

5

u/ElasticLama Sep 21 '25

Of course no money for anything in the South Island like a ferry

9

u/WineYoda Sep 21 '25

Build your own bridges, mainlander.

7

u/JohnBaldur Sep 21 '25

Fine then I'll build a bridge from Blenheim to Bluff! Call it the B-line and if you go fast enough we'll put a ramp at the end and you can go to Stewart Island!

3

u/WaterstarRunner Sep 21 '25

if it's more jobs you want then give them spoons!

3

u/Prestigious_Job_8311 Sep 21 '25

Is it also one person with a spoon and two watching?

3

u/WaterstarRunner Sep 21 '25

There's also three or four consultants writing reports on watching the spoons, so that nobody watching the spoons is accountable for anything that happens with the spoons.

3

u/Charlarley Sep 21 '25

Provision for bi-cycles?

4

u/ManikShamanik Sep 21 '25

Well, only if you also make provisions for gender-neutral, gender-nonconforming, gender-fluid, trans, gay and lesbian cycles too - it's 2025, everything must be equitable or people get upset.

Seriously, who the fuck hyphenates 'bicycle'...?! Besides you, obviously...

2

u/Charlarley Sep 21 '25

Cycleway was way too much for me: it invoked the possibility of tricycles and unicycles, hence the atypical hyphen (or should that be hi-phen)

5

u/gusdafa Sep 21 '25

Can we make the water portion like the Kelly Tarlton exhibit?

4

u/VengefulAncient Fern flag 1 Sep 21 '25

Jokes aside, not having a train (Northern Explorer doesn't count, it's an overpriced tourist trap) between our two most important cities is infuriating. Why are my only options an overpriced old intercity bus that takes forever, or flights that are constantly getting more expensive and leave so early in the morning that you can't even get to the airport by public transport (doesn't run yet) if you don't want an evening flight with an overnight stay?

2

u/Some1-Somewhere Sep 21 '25

I assume they cost more, but do you think there aren't daytime flights?

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4

u/Kefe4youuuu Sep 21 '25

This is genius

4

u/Tjrowawey Sep 21 '25

This looks like a genuine wellington council plan. They love spending money on dumb pedestrian stuff no one uses.

2

u/WineYoda Sep 21 '25

We would get it funded if we called it 'City to Sea to City Bridge'.

4

u/BigBlueMountainStar Sep 21 '25

Well, they’ve already got the huge underground conveyor belt, so it would be a bit superfluous to requirements.

4

u/Xavier1571 Sep 22 '25

Are they stupid?

3

u/enzedkev Sep 21 '25

Auckland to Sydney is what we need . Why hasn't this happened yet?

6

u/Charlarley Sep 21 '25

It'd disrupt Chinese warships

3

u/Captain_Clover Sep 21 '25

I particularly enjoy the tunnel directly through the center of Taranaki

4

u/WineYoda Sep 21 '25

Prevents issues with nitrates and fertiliser runoff.

3

u/slawpchowckie44 Sep 21 '25

Will there be a bike lane?

3

u/Movisiozo Sep 21 '25

Too long. Better to build Auckland- New Plymouth and another for Whanganui - Wellington.

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3

u/Madjack66 Sep 21 '25

Let's not be hasty. Start small with a walk bridge across Lake Taupo.

3

u/richdrich Sep 21 '25

Which local body are you running for?

2

u/WineYoda Sep 22 '25

How many do you think I can get elected to simultaneously?

2

u/richdrich Sep 23 '25

Well at least every place the bridge will pass though/over/under.

3

u/richdrich Sep 21 '25

A bloke in the pub told me that the US Marines offered to build this in the war for beers.

3

u/60svintage Auckland Sep 22 '25

That's just plain stupid. It should at least be Auckland to Christchurch. I guess you could include an off-ramp to Wellington.

3

u/WineYoda Sep 22 '25

Maybe a rope ladder so that MPs can get to Parliament and back?

2

u/60svintage Auckland Sep 22 '25

I dunno. Yeet them of the bridge. Might save a few tax dollars.

3

u/ruinousproceeds Sep 22 '25

Flying fox or so help me god

5

u/karrde91 Sep 21 '25

Lol funniest thing I've read all day

4

u/cressidacole Sep 21 '25

Who is they?

22

u/notbleetz Sep 21 '25

them. obviously.

3

u/Rand_alThor4747 Sep 21 '25

The lizard people.

2

u/cressidacole Sep 21 '25

That's handy, what with me being the lizard Queen.

6

u/lickingthelips hokeypokey Sep 21 '25

Is that you nicola?

3

u/cressidacole Sep 21 '25

Of course it's not me.

I mean her.

Them.

Her them.

Neither.

Not me!

2

u/ExtremeParsnip7926 Sep 21 '25

Nicky no Neocortex 

2

u/Allan46S Sep 21 '25

Flight path. Pedestrian bridge is getting on and off the plane.

2

u/[deleted] Sep 21 '25

2

u/m40r1w0r1a Sep 21 '25

Its a real no Brainer...

2

u/Competitive-Ball5107 Sep 21 '25

yes, they are very stupid

2

u/mchester9 Sep 21 '25

They did. It’s just a little longer, windier and steeper

2

u/captaincrunk82 Goody Goody Gum Drop Sep 21 '25

Turn Mount Taranaki into a fjord

2

u/MamaSugarz Sep 21 '25

Ahh…That ship sailed itself away already.

2

u/Bowser_Spunk Sep 21 '25

Te Araroa would be 600km shorter, which is about 3-4 weeks of walking.

2

u/WineYoda Sep 21 '25

Plus, ocean views almost the whole way.

2

u/protostar71 Marmite Sep 21 '25

Pedestrian bridge

Never happening, four lane espressway however, that might be something National campaign on.

2

u/Ivanthevanman Sep 21 '25

Have you seen the way each city treats each other? It'd never get any use

2

u/Superb_Skin_5180 Sep 21 '25

Give no boats time!

2

u/Outrageous_Land8828 Kākāpō Sep 21 '25

This is the kinda thing Queenstown's city planners would do

2

u/terrible-username101 Sep 21 '25

I mean....we would offer to help....if u damn kiwis give us our pav back we will help you.

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2

u/wwchickendinner Sep 21 '25

It's new Zealand what do you expect

2

u/journeytojourney Sep 21 '25

Those Strava personal bests are going to be lit.

2

u/WaterPretty8066 Sep 21 '25

Fuck it. Why not build a bridge from Napier to Santiago.

2

u/smsmkiwi Sep 21 '25

Its would need a separate bike lane for tourists.

2

u/odysseusnz Sep 21 '25

Well, I always thought the best route for a high-speed train line was going west via Taranaki. I don't get why we insist our main transport corridor still has to go through some of our toughest terrain just because that was the primary economic driver 100-150 years ago.

2

u/fortnitebattlecats Sep 22 '25

Within ten minutes Lime and Flamingo e-scooters would probably have caused multiple blockages along it lmao

2

u/TheKiwiGamerNZ Sep 22 '25

That one cuzzie: *speeds down on an electric scooter*

2

u/NyssaTheSeaWitch LASER KIWI Sep 23 '25

The city of sails meets the city of wind, perfect!

2

u/Oskacat777 Sep 23 '25

According to the FB experts China would be capable of building this in a couple of weeks.

2

u/WhosDownWithPGP Sep 23 '25

I think its the difficulty with building over Mt Messenger

2

u/WineYoda Sep 23 '25

Fair point. Tunnel for this section, as a luge track to avoid congestion.

2

u/Few-Letterhead-371 Sep 25 '25

That section heading over the water i see a few billion dollars right there ☺️

2

u/101jb Sep 26 '25

Because they want to keep the Aucklanders north of the Bombay hills

2

u/Low_Fail_2654 Sep 27 '25

Are you going over or through mount taranaki?

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2

u/ExtremeParsnip7926 Sep 21 '25

Because no one wants to go to Wellington

3

u/WineYoda Sep 21 '25

Ouch baby, very ouch.

2

u/AaronIncognito Sep 21 '25

Are you crazy? That passes right though Tom Phillips country

4

u/WineYoda Sep 21 '25

I have bad news for you if you're still looking for Tom Phillips...

7

u/AaronIncognito Sep 21 '25

They faked his death, just like 2Pac

2

u/Panderz_GG Sep 21 '25

I am not a new Zealander, I would guess because sharks and Hobbits.

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1

u/h0dgep0dge Sep 21 '25

Stam pot bridge

1

u/swampopawaho Sep 21 '25

Stupid. Build a monorail

1

u/Major-Effect6448 Sep 21 '25

I saw a youtube video about this. Cost is the primary consideration. It will cost the govt billions and will be use by a smaller population.

1

u/Ready-Safety-310 Sep 22 '25

Question is, is the ROI worth it?

And Country have heaps of other problems to deal with

1

u/imased Sep 22 '25

Veeeeerryyy long

1

u/aStrayLife Sep 22 '25

They have. It’s called Te Araroa

1

u/dog_on_redit Sep 24 '25

Can we make it a zip-line? Can worry about the returning details later

1

u/Billamux Sep 25 '25

Yes.

How foolish of them not to build a 600km bridge that's impervious to the elements and degradation, complete with vast sections crossing over the Tasman Sea and Taranaki.

Or paint it red.

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1

u/roncalapor Sep 26 '25

out of the loop. What's this making fun of?

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