Work on Harbour Arterial Route set to continue

The Dunedin City Council (DCC) will carry out road and intersection upgrades on Strathallan Street, Wharf Street, Portsmouth Drive, Ōtaki Street, and Orari Street over the next six months.

The work is part of the Harbour Arterial route project running from the Caversham Motorway (SH1)/Andersons Bay Road intersection through Andersons Bay Road, Strathallan Street, Wharf Street, Thomas Burns Street, Ward Street and the Ward Street overbridge. Safety improvements have already been completed on Wharf Street between Kitchener and Fryatt Streets as part of this project.

DCC Group Manager Transport, Jeanine Benson, says, “The goal is to make the Harbour Arterial the preferred route for vehicles, especially heavy vehicles, bypassing the central city. This will improve safety and reduce congestion around the CBD and the new hospital site, while also enhancing the connection to both SH1 and SH88. This stage of the project also aims to reduce the congestion that frequently clogs Strathallan Street.”

There are several key changes:

• Strathallan Street (east end): The right-turn lane onto Portsmouth Drive will be replaced with a second left-turn only lane, aligning with the northbound lanes on Wharf Street. Traffic will still be able to turn right onto Portsmouth Drive from the Orari Street or Midland Street intersections. This will create more capacity and improve traffic flow on Strathallan Street.
• Parking: Around 50 car parks on Strathallan Street will be removed to allow construction of dual approach lanes to both the east bound and westbound intersections.
• Pedestrian safety: A pedestrian refuge will be added near the Strathallan/Ōtaki Street intersection.
• Ōtaki and Orari Streets: A new roundabout will be built to improve traffic flow, sightlines and access to Orari Street.
• The signalised intersection at Strathallan/Wharf/Portsmouth will be upgraded to improve safety, accessibility and efficiency for all the road users.

“We understand that removing parking may inconvenience some, but this is necessary to ease congestion and to improve traffic flow and safety,” Jeanine Benson says.

The DCC recognises there are some particularly busy times of year for businesses operating adjacent to the construction area. We will work closely with our contractor to minimise disruption during those periods.

This part of the Harbour Arterial project has a budget of $2.8million, with the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) covering 51% of the cost.

The project is led by the DCC in partnership with NZTA and Otago Regional Council, as part of the Shaping Future Dunedin Transport (SFDT) suite of projects. Information about this project was included in public consultations on the preferred programme for the SFDT Business Case in 2021, in the Dunedin City Council 2021-31 10 Year Plan and in the DCC’s 9 year plan 2025-2034.

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