A key pedestrian bridge on Auckland’s waterfront was closed due to a fault only three days after its highly anticipated opening.

The Wynyard Crossing bridge was reopened on Friday morning after a lengthy nine-month closure that forced pedestrians to walk around it or take a ferry.

But this morning the bridge suffered a malfunction with gates preventing anyone from crossing for 10 to 15 minutes.

A worker on site told the Herald the fault was fixed at 9am and the closure briefly affected pedestrians.

Aucklander Dilan Jivan said he took the later train this morning anticipating he would save 20 minutes on his journey getting to work.

He said about 50 people were waiting at the bridge entrance, but the gates never opened.

Jivan said he asked workers near the bridge and they told him to go around or take the ferry.

He said he would now be late for work and was “very frustrated” by the lack of communication.

Many of his co-workers were also late to work and had missed important meetings because of the unexplained closure.

The bridge was reopened on Friday morning after being intermittently out of action for a little over a year after it broke in November last year. It has forced people to walk a 20-minute detour or use a ferry to cross the Viaduct Basin.

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It was fully closed in March for repairs.

The bridge, constructed at a cost of $3.7 million and opened in 2011, was built to raise and lower its span to accommodate boats passing below.

It has cost at least $10.6m to fix the bridge, according to an update from Auckland Council’s development arm Eke Panuku in October.

Auckland Council has been approached for comment.