Kia ora ,

As with most businesses the Omicron wave has had an impact on our progress. Nonetheless, work has continued across all areas of Aotea Station, with good progress to report this month. 

The city centre and the midtown area are beginning to feel more busy. The area is ready for offices to re-open and visitors to come back. We look forward to seeing you on site! 

This month we celebrated St Paddy's day with The Fiddler Irish Bar on Victoria Street, proudly sponsoring live music. 

As always, to contact us you can email us at: aotea@linkalliance.co.nz or call 0800 CRL TALK (0800 275 8255 and press option 3) to speak to us. 

Support Local competition launch!

In support of local business around the Aotea Station construction area, the Link Alliance team is delighted to launch a Support Local & Win competition. 
 
Spend $5 or more at a participating business to go into a monthly draw to win $100 to spend at a local midtown business.
 
The more times you shop at participating businesses, the more chances you have to win.
 
The Grand Prize is an underground tour of Aotea Station for you and a friend. 
  
Grab your entry form and find out more by coming on down to midtown!

Community Liaison Group presentation

Thank you to everyone who joined us for our recent Community Liaison Group meeting held earlier this week. We covered a range of topics and you can find the presentation files below. Please let us know if you have any questions. 

• Presentation >>
• Meeting minutes >>

Community stakeholder survey feedback

Thank you to all our neighbours who took the time to provide feedback via our most recent quarterly stakeholder satisfaction survey. Overall we received a 73% satisfaction rating. 

Congratulations to Bruce from Manhattan Apartments for winning this month's $100 gift voucher to spend at a local business - Bruce has chosen the very yummy Peppers Cafe at 99 Albert St. 

Several comments reflected that the team is always available and keen to help -- we certainly try to be!  Some actions for us to implement based on the results include:

• Continue with review of the Small Business Support Programme to ensure it is well-suited and accessible for as many small businesses as possible.
• Ensure consistency of communications across the site, especially when new neighbours move into the area. 

Albert Street Fire Bell Tower finds a new home

You may recall that a couple of months ago we uncovered concrete foundations and timber footings used to support a landmark wooden fire bell tower built in Albert Street near the intersection with Victoria Street. This month we were proud to gift these archeological remnants to the Auckland Fire Brigades Museum & Historical Society inc.

Following its construction in the 1880s, watchmen had to huff-and-puff their way up five sets of steep stairs to reach the tower’s lookout perched almost 23 metres – roughly the length of a cricket pitch - over a town built mainly of wood and brick and vulnerable to the threat of fire.

The tower was topped by a heavy bell known as “Big Ben”. There was no electricity at the time and watchmen had to use hydraulics to ring “Big Ben” and raise the alarm. It could be heard 11 kilometres away - providing it was a still day with no wind. The number of the bell’s gongs indicated the location of a fire.

Aotea Station construction progress

South Zone - Mayoral Drive area

• Our TBM, Dame Whina Cooper, is now back at Mt Eden being reassembled and prepared to begin her second tunnel drive next month.
• Above ground we have almost completed the columns and floors of the second level of the super-structure (Wellesley St entrance building). Third floor columns are also now up and being prepared for concrete pours. 
• Excavation continues beneath the completed B1 concourse level slabs down to the B2 platform and B3 track levels. 
• The Wellesley sump has now been excavated with construction of the concrete walls to follow. The sump acts as drainage for the station building and eventually the over-station residential and commercial development

Central Zone - Albert Street from Wellesley to Victoria

• The completion of the roof slabs in this area has allowed us to re-install the airbridge linking Albert Street and the Crowne Plaza Hotel, above the lower Albert Street service lane. This area has now re-opened to traffic and the Atrium Carpark remains open. 
• The completion of the roof slabs on Albert Street also means that station excavation and underground works will now continue to progress towards Victoria Street.
• In the area closest to Victoria Street, the upstand wall has been completed and the roof slabs in this section are starting to be built alongside the service lane. 

Victoria Street Zone (from Federal to Elliott)

• Construction of the station roof panels is well underway with concrete pours to follow the formwork and steel reinforcing. Once the roof slabs are complete we will continue excavating beneath the intersection.
• Watermain relocations will begin across the intersection next week.
• Diaphragm wall breakback continues to allow for the construction of each roof slab. These works can be noisy at this, however we have a range of noise mitigations in place such as noise barrier mats and decibel monitoring. 

North Zone - Albert Street from Victoria to Wyndham

• Work to extend the running tunnels continues to progress south from Wyndham Street. This includes formwork and steel reinforcing for base slabs and walls, followed by concrete pours.
• A key focus of the team's work here is connecting into the existing running tunnels from Britomart Station. 

Updates on neighbouring projects

Te Hā Noa Victoria Street Linear Park & Wellesley Street Bus Improvements projects

When stage one public consultation closed in November 2021, 143 submissions were received sharing views on how these projects could make midtown a better place for people working, living, and hanging out.
 
They want green spaces, safe connections for people on bikes, scooters and on foot, accessible and improved public transport, and servicing and loading provision for businesses. They want their city to thrive.  You can view the feedback at AK Have Your Say.
 
The Te Hā Noa resource consent application was lodged in February with the Wellesley project expected to be lodged by the end of March. Construction on stage one of both projects is expected to start in 2023. If you wish to subscribe to future updates please email ATEngagement@AT.govt.nz

Exploratory works beginning soon
To inform the development of the detailed plans for stage one of Te Hā Noa, exploratory works to locate underground services between Elliott Street and Kitchener Street will start in April and May (see map below).
 
These works involve some excavation in the road and footpath. Traffic management and wayfinding for pedestrians will be in place. Access to properties will be maintained. Check ProgressAKL for updates or contact JFC’s Stakeholder Manager Cherie Armer on 021 420 108 or Cherie.armer@jfcltd.co.nz 

Myers Park underpass project

Auckland Council has announced work will begin in April to upgrade the northern (city) end of the much-loved and historic Myers Park.

By the end of summer 2022/23, the underpass connecting the city to the park will be transformed from a carpark to a welcoming public space. The underpass will feature artwork designed by Graham Tipene (Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei), through partnership with mana whenua, providing a beautiful new entranceway for the park. A new staircase will lead to Queen Street, and new seating, lighting and native planting will make the park an inviting oasis in the city centre.

Click here for more information and to learn how to follow its progress.

Short and Sweet

PPE (Personal Protective Equipment)

• Hard hats - head injuries are a serious matter, so to protect our heads as we work and traverse through site we must all wear our hard hats. These offer excellent protection against falling objects or accidentally bumping our own heads
• Safety glasses - to protect our eyes, even if we aren't undertaking work directly we could be in the vacinity of someone who's work is kicking up small debris.
• Long sleeved top and full length trousers - yes even in the hot summer sun! While specific tops and pants need to be worn to provide extra safety around hot works or chemicals, everyone else still needs to have their arms and legs covered. This is to help protect us from New Zealand's harsh sun, which can increase risk of skin cancer. 
• High visibility clothing - this piece of loud orange gear is designed to make every person on site more visible during all sorts of different work, especially important when working around different plant and machinery so their drivers and operators can see you. Reflective strips are also important, especially when working underground or during nights.
• Gloves - there are a wide variety of gloves our workers use that are specialised for protection against different elements such as piercing, cutting, or crushing. Most jobs require some form of glove use to help protect our hands when using different machinery.
• Steel capped boots, ankle high - these are to protect our feet if we stand on anything sharp, accidentally drop an object on our toes, and provide additional ankle support as we traverse uneven ground.
• Masks - while masks have always been part of our toolkit when working with different chemicals or during specific tasks, they've become more common on site due to Covid-19.