Sensational-Adelaide.com

North Terrace streetscape slow down
03Dec 08

IT HAS BEEN a North Tce eyesore for the past two-and-a-half years and is running 28 months behind schedule.

But the City Council insists the latest stage of the North Tce streetscape upgrade will be finished by Christmas.

Upgrading the 200m stretch between Pulteney St and Frome Rd has taken 29 months - averaging a snail’s-paced 1.7m a week.

The $7m upgrade, managed by Town Hall but jointly funded by the State Government, includes new paving, landscaping and a water feature near the Frome Rd corner.

The continuing works have reduced the prominent location to a cluttered mess, with barriers, large piles of dirt and pedestrian detours.

Lord Mayor Michael Harbison said the slow progress had been “frustrating”. However, he said workers had to down tools for almost 12 months while the facade of UniSA’s Brookman building was restored last year.

Funding for the upgrade only became available to the university after the North Tce roadworks had started.

“Faced with a choice between seeing the Brookman building restored or not, I think it was the right thing to do, it will be a better result for the long term,” Mr Harbison said.

He said there also had been other delays, but these had not increased the cost of the project.

“The big tree around which the water feature was designed actually shattered, fell in half, before work started, so we had to do a bit of a redesign as well.”

The upgrade is the second phase of a four-stage project redeveloping Adelaide’s premier cultural boulevard.

Comparative construction times

5 days: A full-size replica of Vienna’s Schonbrunn Palace at AAMI Stadium for the Andre Rieu concert last month
4 months: Temporary grandstands at Victoria Park for Clipsal 500
8 months: 1.6km extension to tram line from Victoria Sq to North Tce
1 year, 6 months: $1.1 billion desalination plant at Port Stanvac (State Government estimate)
2 years, 5 months: Redevelop 200m stretch of North Tce streetscape from Pulteney St to Frome Rd. Stage two was supposed to start in September 2005 and take about 11 months to complete but was delayed by funding delays. The next stage will cover the stretch in front of Government House between Kintore Ave and King William St.

Shuz wrote:Anyone want to place bets how long the next stage will take?

AtD wrote:Free pie for recent photos!

jk1237 wrote:Council reckons it will be finished by christmas, yeah right
It doesn't look anywhere near finished, and they've only really started the final paving at the Frome Rd end only, no where else that Ive noticed. It will be a couple of months minimum

Maybe the ACC mean next christmas