Significant changes on Albert Street

There are two significant developments relating to City Rail Link work in Albert Street.

After being closed for three years, the Wyndham Street West intersection with Albert Street has re-opened successfully. People can travel east-west  across Albert Street in either direction again – east along Wyndham Street down to Queen Street, or west past St Patrick’s Cathedral towards Hobson Street.

Safety restrictions continue for both road users and pedestrians at the intersection. Vehicle’s cannot make right turns into Albert Street from either direction on Wyndham Street, and the footpath on the northern or cathedral side of Wyndham Street West remains a construction zone.

Above ground, works on Albert St have commenced. These include installation of new utility services and tree pit construction in advance of the final finished footpaths and road carriageway.

To construct the tree pits and install the utility services, CRL contractors, Connectus, is also demolishing the steel reinforced concrete capping beam. This operation is currently underway on the western side of the road between Wyndham and Swanson Streets using a combination of wire-saw and concrete breakers.

Construction of tunnel floors and walls is mostly finished and only a single section of roof, at the Customs Street end of Albert Street, needs to be poured. Connectus expects tunnel box construction of the 350m Albert Street section of the twin underground tunnels to be completed in July.

Backfilling above the new tunnels to the road level of Albert Street is planned to finish by the end of winter.

As part of City Rail Link Ltd’s commitment to sustainability and the reuse of old materials, crushed concrete is being used for backfill. Around 45,000 cubic metres of crushed concrete is required, and almost half of that has been recycled from other project sites  where concrete has been removed.

Canopy removals continue along Albert Street. While they have been removed outside SkyCity, the area there remains fenced off to store construction materials. Canopy demolition outside Auckland Council and Manhattan Apartments is also complete, and canopies are currently being removed outside the AA building.