Resurfacing works on Dunedin’s Princes Street are expected to wind up tomorrow evening, as crews work around the clock to complete the upgrades with minimal overall disruption.
The work involves ripping up and replacing the old asphalt surface of Princes Street from Stafford Street to Maitland Street. This was originally set to take four weeks, but Dunedin City Council and contractor Fulton Hogan were able to create a work plan to halve the timeframe to just two weeks.
The first week of works – Sunday 30 March to Thursday 3 April – was completed on night shift, meaning the stretches of Princes Street between Lees Street and Maitland Street, and between Stafford Street and Carroll Street, were closed from 7pm to 6am.
In the second week – from Sunday 6 April to Friday 11 April – crews are working 24 hours a day to complete the stretch of Princes Street from Carroll Street to Lees Street. The road is once again closed from 7pm to 6am, and reduced to two lanes during the day.
The 24-hour work schedule avoids prolonged disruption to Princes Street residents and businesses.
“The crews are working on this stretch of road in sections,” explains Josh von Pein, Dunedin City Council Engineer to Contract. “Each property inside the 24-hour work zone is affected by road closure at night, but will only experience having paving works, reduced lanes and no-parking zones directly outside their premises for one day.”
The work team set up a site office on Market Reserve, which Princes Street residents and businesses have been welcome to visit if they have any queries or concerns while the work occurs.
The previous asphalt surface along this area of Princes Street was laid in 1996 and 1997, and slurry seal was applied in 2016 to extend its life.
“We have been very happy with the performance of this stretch of road, and we’re hopeful of a similar life expectancy for the new surface following these works,” says Mr von Pein.
By the numbers, this project has involved:
- Zero injuries to date
- 115+ continuous hours on site
- 73 staff and 3,285 hours worked
- 2,000 tonnes of old material removed
- 2,200 tonnes of new material laid
- 250 asphalt quality checks completed
- 1,200 affected residents and businesses notified of works
20 different traffic management set-ups completed.