Wynyard Quarter businesses struggling as bridge closed for months

It was supposed to be a big summer for hospitality venues in Auckland's Wynyard Quarter but one of the main access ways to the area has been closed off.

Mechanical issues with the Wynyard crossing bridge have forced it to close until late 2024.

It takes around 15 seconds to walk across the bridge to the Viaduct, but around 20 minutes to walk around without bridge access. Businesses in the area were now considering legal action as the bridge closure was hitting their weekly earnings.

Speaking to Breakfast this morning, Wynyard Pavilion's general manager Alex Pearson said every day was uncertain and it was making workers in the area nervous.

"It started in November, [the bridge closure] happened for a weekend and they managed to get it working then it started again in January and it's been very up and down during our peak summer period."

He said he'd seen a 40% drop in business in the last couple of weeks and expected that to keep decreasing until the end of the year.

Pearson said he'd like to see a proactive approach from Eke Panuku to helping businesses in the area. He said so far, the council agency had only acknowledged issues with the bridge, but hadn't offered a solution.

"We've got all the data to show how badly it's affecting us but they claim we're fully accessible. It's the same if you live on the North Shore and the Harbour Bridge closes, it would make you think twice about going into the city."

"Ideally, we want to have an honest conversation with the council, show them the figures and they can come back to us."

Auckland Council had so far told Wynyard Quarter businesses it wouldn't be providing any rent relief. It also told Breakfast there wouldn't be any other financial compensation for businesses.

Pearson said more needed to be done, and it needed to be done quickly.

"We're heading into very harsh times through winter in hospitality and we really feel like we need to sit down with them and come up with some better ideas, and they need to be faster ideas.

"They need to work with us on this, we feel like if they go and down their own thing it might not align with what we think will work best."