Tauranga Harbour Bridge turned 28 on Sunday, with a lot less fuss than on the official opening day on March 13, 1988.

That day the bridge was opened to pedestrian traffic, with thousands of people walking across the two lane structure that changed the dynamic of both Mount Maunganui and Tauranga.

The 28-year-old Tauranga Harbour Bridge.

The two towns were also separated politically before the bridge was built, each with its own council.

They were also distanced physically, with the road journey being via Maungatapu and Bayfair. The bridge shortened travel time considerably, and the two municipalities were joined politically in the local government reforms of 1989.

Over the first 13 years, daily traffic flow on the bridge increased from 10,000 vehicles per day to 27,500 because of the continuing industrial, commercial and residential growth across the harbour.

Shortly after officially opening the bridge, Bob Owens - a former mayor of both Tauranga and Mount Maunganui - remarked that construction of a second bridge should begin immediately, but that wasn't to happen for another 21 years.

The $1 bridge toll originally imposed to pay for the bridge was removed in 2001 following a vociferous campaign in response to the news the council was using the bridge tolls as a cash cow.

The toll legislation was originally to pay for just the bridge. The council extended it to also include paying for the connecting Route P.

Removing the tolls dramatically increased congestion on the two lane bridge. From just coping with 27 thousand vehicles per day, it rapidly become over stretched at 35,000 vehicles per day. Peak hour travel times lengthened from 15 minutes to 25 minutes, and sometimes 40 minutes.

The second bridge was constructed as part of the Harbour Link Project which also included the construction of the Chapel Street Viaduct, the four laning of Hewletts Road, and the construction of the Hewletts Road Flyover.

The $255 second bridge was built next to the original and opened on September 7, 2009, although the first vehicles didn't cross until December 18.