The Auckland Harbour Bridge opens
- When
- 30 May 1959
- Where
- Waitematā Harbour · Waitematā
- Reach
- Several regions
Four lanes across the Waitematā ended the ferry monopoly between the city and the North Shore, and immediately proved far too small.
Aucklanders had been arguing about a harbour crossing since the 1860s. The bridge that finally opened in 1959 had been cut back to four lanes on cost grounds, and in its first year carried an average of 13,493 vehicles a day against a forecast of 8,250 by 1965. Two extra lanes were hung on each side in 1969, prefabricated in Japan and known ever since as the Nippon clip-ons. The bridge turned the North Shore from a string of seaside settlements into suburbs, and is the clearest single cause of the shape modern Auckland took.
Regions affected
Sources
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