Albert Street enhancements underway

Now that construction of the tunnel under the northern end of Albert Street has finished, that team has been able to shift their focus towards streetscape enhancement along the busy central Auckland thoroughfare, says C2 project lead Lucas Nikkel.

That means that there’s now a finish in sight for work at the north end of Albert Street and while there is still work to do underground, we can now start to turn our attention to people-friendly improvements along Albert Street itself.

Those improvements include wider footpaths, more open places for people to share, and tree plantings.

The enhancements will start from Wyndham Street and head block by block north towards Customs Street and if work goes to plan, CRL is hoping to return the first section of enhancements back to the community around Christmas.

Construction on Albert Street, known as C2, began in December 2015. It started with the diversion of a major stormwater line to create room for the twin-tunnel underground rail link.

Over the past three-and-a-half years, more than a million hours were worked on site, 2,500 tonnes of steel bar reinforcement tied together, and over 10,000 cubic metres of concrete poured.  In that time, many kilometres of stormwater, electrical, gas, sewerage and internet lines were relocated or strengthened. Backfilling the trench around the tunnel will be completed in late winter.

CRL Ltd CEO Dr Sean Sweeney acknowledged the work of the contractors, and the support from the local community.

“Construction like this in the middle of a city is never easy for anyone. But we have taken a big step towards building a project that will change the way people can travel around our city,” he said.