The waterfront is probably the jewel in Auckland's crown, but the passenger bridge linking the viaduct and Wynyard Quarter has been severed, and there's no quick fix.

The bridge can open to let boats through, and close to allow pedestrians to cross.

But it's stuck in the open position for the foreseeable future.

That's forcing pedestrians to take the long way around, and has businesses seeing red.

Melanie Earley and Marika Khabazi have the story.