Welcome to the second newsletter from the Karangahape Station team.
There’s been some fantastic progress over the past month that we are excited to share with you.
When it opens in 2024 Karagahape Station will be the deepest of the stations in the City Rail Link (CRL) project at 32-metres below ground, with entrances at Mercury Lane and Beresford Square. There’s a lot to do before we get to that stage!
Don’t forget you can send your feedback, questions and suggestions for future stories through to us at: karangahape@linkalliance.co.nz.
We wish everyone in the Karangahape community safe and happy holidays over the Christmas break.
What we’ve done so far
Mercury Lane
- We’ve completed a large number of below-ground utility diversions involving the staged relocation of stormwater and wastewater pipes
- Demolition of the old Mercury Plaza and some surrounding properties
- Permanent hoardings have been erected to enclose our site.
Beresford Square
- Building condition surveys have been carried out and environmental monitoring continues.
Key dates
December and January for both locations:
- Geotechnical investigations continue
- Christmas shutdown – our last day of work is 21 December
- We restart work 6 January 2020
January
Mercury Lane
- Utility diversions and demolition continues
- Permanent hoarding will continue to be erected along Canada Street and East Street
- Artwork anticipated to be installed on Canada Street hoardings.
Beresford Square
- Vehicle access to Pitt Street from Beresford Square will be removed.
- The Wilson car park at the bottom of Beresford Square will close and site office establishment begins at this location in early 2020
- Pitt Street reduced to one lane in each direction around Beresford Square from 7 January
- Environmental monitoring set-up and continue
- Utility diversions to commence following the Square closure
- Beresford Square fences go up, followed by wooden hoardings
- Tree removal commences
- Info Hub structure deconstruction. Some of the timber, steel and glass from the former café will be salvaged with elements from the front section that faces Pitt Street moved into council heritage storage.
- ‘The Twist’ (the bronze artwork of little girl and pig) will be carefully removed by Auckland Council for storage until project completion.
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Changes to Beresford Square: Fences to go up and no through traffic to Pitt Street
On 6 January, vehicle access to Pitt Street from Beresford Street will be closed and fencing will begin to go up around the square in preparation for construction to begin.
Access to Day Street, Samoa Lane and the local parking garages will be maintained. A parking map will be distributed to direct people to alternative parking options in the surrounding area.
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Trees to the community
Following assessment by Council Arborists to see if they could be relocated, the trees to be removed from Beresford Square were offered to Mana-Whenua. They were then offered to local wood turners and carpenters who were keen to use them. Local woodworkers The Warren have even suggested that they will design a piece from of the trees which connects to the heritage of the area (watch this space!).
Any trees removed during the project will be replaced at a minimum of 1 for 1 when we complete streetscapes and public realm enhancements at the end of construction.
If you would like to express interest in salvaging some of the wood, please contact us before 6 January. Trees identified for repurposing can be collected from January 13-25 from 29 Mercury Lane.
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Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
The City Rail Link project is being designed and constructed to the highest sustainability standards and will set the benchmark for delivering sustainable infrastructure in New Zealand.
Whenever possible the Link Alliance embodies this commitment by looking for opportunities to reduce, reuse, recycle – and if we can help the local community along the way that’s even better!
We were recently able to live this principle when our Mercury Lane team identified a great opportunity to prevent materials from going to the landfill. They carefully removed 30 window panes from a building (seen in the background) due for demolition and gave them to our grateful site neighbour, Campervan World to replace some of their broken windows and for future repurposing.
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The changing shape of Mercury Lane
Demolition is truly underway at the Mercury Lane construction site. The bird’s eye view photo was taken from a time-lapse camera which allows the progress and transformation of the area to be recorded. We will share these progress pictures to help keep everyone abreast of the changes underway and the progress we are making.
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Changes to Cross Street directional traffic flow
In mid-February we will be switching the direction of the one-way system in Cross Street. Cars will only be able to enter from Mercury Lane as opposed to the current entrance at Upper Queen Street.
These changes are necessary to ensure that trucks and pedestrians can continue to safely access Cross Street while our construction work is underway.
Parking along the street will remain but will have to be pointed eastward. We are engaging with businesses and residents along Cross Street and the adjacent streets to discuss these changes.
We will also have a traffic controller stationed on Upper Queen Street before and after the change to assist with redirecting traffic. If you’d like to talk about this further, please don’t hesitate to get in touch on karangahape@linkalliance.co.nz or call us on 0800 CRL TALK option 4.
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Community Champions
A number of local businesses are embracing the future Karangahape Station and benefits of the City Rail Link project by sharing the story with their members and customers.
When enjoying a cold pint in the sun at the Northern Line Pub on Beresford Square you can watch a video of the design for the future Karangahape station and entrance. Or alternatively, while gathering at the Methodist Church on Pitt Street you can read all about the project on a series of posters erected in their congregation room. And as always, we are thankful to the Karangahape Road Business Association (KBA) who continue to embrace the project and update their members.
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Karangahape Identity Project
The Link Alliance is proud to acknowledge the Karangahape Identity Project, which captures the range of perspectives within the communities of Karangahape Rd on the essence of identity.
We are currently working with the KBA on ideas for how we can help to recognise this important initiative. We’ll keep you posted.
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The KBA Roll out the Rainbow
How rainbow proud can you make your workplace, shop front, cafe, street or apartment? Join Pride Pledge and the KBA to paint the town rainbow this summer through the Roll Out The Rainbow initiative that encourages visibly inclusiveness and love for all.
As part of the initiative, KBA and Pride Pledge have funding for a range of LGBTTI+ targeted events around Karangahape Road. Anyone can apply to host an event over January or February! Grants are limited to $500 per event.
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