Background
Prior to construction of the bridge, the quickest way from Auckland to the North Shore was via ferry. By road, the shortest route from Auckland to the North Shore was via the Northwestern Motorway (then complete only between Great North Road and Lincoln Road), Massey, Riverhead, and Albany, a distance of approximately 50 kilometres (31 mi).
As early as 1860, engineer Fred Bell, commissioned by North Shore farmers wanting to herd animals to market in Auckland, had proposed a harbour crossing in the general vicinity of the current bridge. It would have used floating pontoons, but the plan failed due to the £16,000 cost estimate (NZ$1.6 million in 2009 dollars).
In the 1950s, when the bridge was built, North Shore was still a very rural area of barely 50,000 people, with relatively few jobs, and its growth rate was half that of Auckland south of the Waitemata. Opening up the area via a new main road connection was to unlock the potential for further expansion of Auckland.
Read more about this topic: Auckland Harbour Bridge
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