Work underground as CBD revamp continues
A new phase has been reached in the $1.3 million revamp of Holloway St and surrounding areas in Carterton.
Carterton District Council chief executive Colin Wright said Oldfields workers and some heavy machinery landed on site yesterday in the latest phase which is expected to be complete by the end of November.
The latest upgrade, which will cost $1.3 million, will include underground work on sewer pipes, telecommunications and stormwater conduits in Holloway St and nearby Nelson Cres and Dixon St, and the removal of the Holloway St bus stop shelter and unisex toilet.
The toilet block and former bus stop in Holloway St have been removed. The bus stop was replaced in late June by three bus stops on High St and another on Broadway.
The toilet block is not being replaced, but an existing block at Carrington Park is being upgraded, and public toilets are available at the Carterton Events Centre.
Mr Wright said the Greater Wellington Regional Council was to construct shelters at the High St bus stops, which include one near the New World supermarket for northbound buses; and one each near Memorial Square and Carrington Park for southbound buses.
He said a shelter would not be built at the Broadway bus stop that services northbound buses, as a nearby block of shops already protects the area from southerly winds and a nearby shop awning is close enough to provide rain shelter for waiting passengers.
Mr Wright said the building of the shelters was several months away "at the soonest" and would be constructed at the discretion of the regional council.
Brian McWilliams, Carterton District Council community and recreation services manager, said the Holloway St unisex toilet block would be shifted to Sparks Park, which has no toilets, and could be permanently fixed there.
He said public toilets in the Carterton Events Centre had already started taking "the pressure" off the unisex block and two other toilets in the CBD would be demolished and replaced over the year.
The Memorial Square public toilets, which adjoin the Buckhorn Bar & Grill building, were constructed in the 1920s or 1930s and have been deemed an earthquake risk, he said.
Tenders would be put out in the next three months to demolish the public toilets at Memorial Square, he said, and rebuild a new block on the same site.
Mr McWilliams said the public toilets at Carrington Park were also to be demolished and replaced over the course of the revamp at Holloway St and he expects a new block will be constructed at the park soon after Christmas.
The upcoming work in Holloway St is the third stage of a CBD rejuvenation in Carterton that comprised a recently completed revamp in High St - including underground services work - and construction of the roundabout near Memorial Square, where the upgrade first began.
