Saturday Morning With Jack Tame

It’s official!Even if it comes as the least surprising news to anyone. Auckland’s $785m proposed cycleway across the harbour has been scrapped and the money allocated elsewhere.I say it’s unsurprising because from what I could tell, almost no one thought the standalone cycle bridge was a good idea. $785m! Even in the age of cheap money and rock-bottom interest rates, that’s a massive chunk of change. These sorts of projects never stay on budget.A few weeks after it was announced, I asked the late Michael Cullen for his thoughts.‘Folly!’ the former Finance Minister replied.‘The sooner they scrap it, the better.’One of the curious footnotes in the cycle bridge’s brief history is even most cyclists didn’t think it was a good idea. They actually hadn’t been asking for a standalone structure. Indeed, in conspiratorial circles, some felt that maybe the government had backed the idea as a way of fostering resentment against cyclists. A Newshub Reid Research poll in August found only 12% of respondents actively suppo