In response to a full-page advertisement in the Weekend Herald today, the Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance has been contacted by a journalist who suggested that Efeso Collins supports a return to the 2006 Skypath Trust proposal for a ‘clip-under’ cycleway over the Auckland Harbour Bridge.

The original Skypath Trust proposal was rejected by Waka Kotahi in 2019 and replaced with an alternative ‘clip-on’ design. However, the clip-on design was later ruled out due to concerns about structural integrity of the existing bridge. This led to proposals for a stand-alone cycling and walking bridge, officially called the Northern Pathway, but colloquially known as ‘Skypath’.

At a public mayoral debate on Tuesday night, the moderator asked the candidates by a show of hands if they would support a “special bridge for cyclists”. Councillor Efeso Collins was the only candidate to raise his hand.

A journalist who was also at the debate has contacted us to suggest that Councillor Collins was in fact indicating his support for the original Skypath Trust proposal.

Ratepayers’ Alliance spokesman Josh Van Veen said, “We find it concerning that the front-runner to be the next Mayor of Auckland would be in support of a 16-year old concept that was rejected because of significant and complex engineering issues.”

“There are a few possibilities here,” Mr Van Veen said, “Either Councillor Collins does not know what he is talking about in respect of ‘Skypath’ or he does support a stand-alone bridge for cyclists. The other alternative is that Councillor Collins would support permanently closing a lane of the Harbour Bridge for cyclists."

“We are calling on Councillor Collins to clear this up once and for all. If he is prepared to go on the record and categorically rule out support for a stand-alone bike bridge, we are more than happy to run a new ad to that effect.”

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