Parking closures for work

PRELIMINARY work is set to begin on Dunedin’s Central City Plan project.

The Dunedin City Council will begin geotechnical work on Monday in George St, between Moray Pl and Albany St and including some side streets.

The work is expected to take up to three weeks, and will be completed in two stages.

The first stage starts on Monday and will be completed in one night.

The second stage of work, which includes drilling and resurfacing, will take place from November 1015.

Some street parking along George St will be closed while the work is being done.

During the day, George St will operate as normal with two lanes of traffic.

Between 6pm and 7pm, it will be reduced to one lane in the area for drilling work.

Traffic will be managed using a stop/go manual traffic control system.

Council principal urban designer Kathryn Ward said the investigation work was a preliminary step towards creating a retail quarter ‘‘that is vibrant, safe and attractive for the city’s residents and visitors’’.

‘‘The drilling we’re about to do will give us important information before we start upgrading George St, helping to fulfil our vision of creating a vibrant and distinctive central city and boosting Dunedin’s economy.

‘‘While this upgrade is not due to start until April 2021, the preparation work we are about to undertake is essential so that the second part of the project can be streamlined and be as least disruptive to the public as possible.’’

All work is subject to favourable weather and onsite construction conditions.