City Centre Streetscapes Stage One Almost Complete

Invercargill’s new Streetscapes project is in the final stages, with just eight weeks left to complete the $20.8 million City Centre upgrade.

Council’s Manager – Strategic Asset Planning, Russell Pearson, said in a report to the Finance and Projects Committee, the project team has continued to closely manage the project, and weekly programme updates are being provided to the Group Manager for Infrastructure.

In November, the council was advised that there have been several competing and adjacent events which have impacted the progress of the project, which resulted in an estimated completion date of March 2023.

These included, commencement of work on site being delayed due to the 2021 Covid lockdown,  significant contamination of ground in Esk Street preventing access, and a high number of archaeological finds increasing heritage observation requirements.

There was also a requirement to support the Langlands hotel and Invercargill Central developments with infrastructure connections, which brought the two programmes into greater conflict – as access to the site was required by multiple parties at the same time.

A number of steps were outlined to manage the project spend, and all work has since been closely monitored.

Russell confirmed to the committee yesterday the end of March completion, helped by the weather being good, “and we’re happy to say we are continuing to track within our budget.”

The initial budget for Stage one of Streetscapes was $18 million, and council was currently investigating the costs of the design and timeline for the reduced scope of Stage 2.

An official opening of Stage 1 of the City Centre streetscapes project will be planned for mid-April.