50 Victoria Street
Private Bag 6995
Wellington 6141
New Zealand
T 64 4 894 5400
F 64 4 894 6100
www.nzta.govt.nz
22 August 2022
Richard Young
[FYI request #20028 email]
REF: OIA-10638
Dear Richard
Request made under the Official Information Act 1982
Thank you for your email of 27 July 2022 requesting the fol owing information under the Official
Information Act 1982 (the Act):
1. […] please can you therefore provide the last 10 years of wind records for the Auckland
Harbour Bridge in possession of the Agency or your contractors. I understand that this
data set would typical y include the time/date stamped 15 minute interval, peak and mean
wind speed and directions. If you have this data please provide it in an CSV or Excel file.
If you do not have wind data in this exact format please provide the closest that you have
to match this request for the longest period you have up to ten years.
2. Please also provide any reports/ emails/ correspondence over the last five years related to
the assessment of wind risk to people walking and cycling across the Auckland Harbour
Bridge.
I have numbered each part of your request for ease of reference.
1. Auckland Harbour Bridge wind data
The fol owing document falls in scope of this part of your request:
• Attachment 1 – AHB hourly wind data
It is important to note the fol owing caveats when looking at this data:
• The data has been provided by MetService and is from 1 March 2011 to 29 March 2022.
• The data contains the peak gust speed and direction within each one-hour period, where that
gust was greater than 75km/hr
2. Auckland Harbour Bridge wind risk assessment for walkers and cyclists
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency has not undertaken an assessment of wind risk to people walking
and cycling across the Auckland Harbour Bridge. Therefore, I am refusing your request for this
information under section 18(e) as the document al eged to contain the information requested does
not exist or, despite reasonable efforts to locate it, cannot be found.
Waka Kotahi has undertaken a rapid Safe Systems Assessment (SSA) into repurposing traffic lanes
on the Auckland Harbour Bridge for vulnerable road users as part of exploring possible options to
utilise the existing structure to create a pedestrian and cycle link. The SSA is an assessment of the
relative death and serious injury risk for commonly occurring crash types. Severe weather risks cannot
be assessed in a rapid SSA. Standards from the UK show that wind speeds over 32km/hr result in
unfavourable conditions for cyclists, and cycling becomes impossible at wind speeds of 64km/hr. As
shown in the data provided to you in response to part 1 of your request, the wind speeds experienced
on the Auckland Harbour Bridge are frequently high, which poses risks to walkers and cyclists in
accordance with the UK standards. While not in scope of your request, in order to provide reasonable
assistance to you, I have enclosed this document as Attachment 2 – AHB shared path safety
assessment, 18 February 2022.
Some information in this document has been withheld under section 9(2)(g)(i) of the Act to maintain
the effective conduct of public affairs through the free and frank expression of opinions by or between
or to Ministers of the Crown or members of an organisation or officers and employees of any
department in the course of their duty.
With respect to the information that has been withheld, I do not consider there are any other factors
which would render it desirable, in the public interest, to make the information available.
Under section 28 of the Act, you have the right to ask the Ombudsman to review my decision to
partial y refuse your request. The contact details for the Ombudsman can be located at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz.
If you would like to discuss this reply with Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency, please contact
Ministerial Services by email to [NZTA request email].
Yours sincerely
Mark Owen
Acting National Manager, Maintenance and Operations
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