Auckland’s City Rail Link works around the Wyndham Street West-Albert Street intersection have now been completed, freeing up access to the area for commuters and pedestrians after three years.
This means that drivers and pedestrians can now freely move east across Albert Street towards Queen Street and west past St Patrick’s Cathedral towards Hobson Street, though some restrictions do remain. Vehicles are still not allowed to turn right into Albert Street from either direction of Wyndham Street and the footpath on the cathedral side of Wyndham Street West is still a construction zone.
“We’re delighted to be able to reopen the intersection for through traffic,” says City Rail Link’s chief executive, Dr Sean Sweeney. “I want to thank people for their support and patience during our necessary work in the area, I acknowledge it’s been a long wait, but I hope it will now be easier for people to access this section of Albert Street.”
An 18-metre trench at the intersection that was dug at the intersection to accommodate the building of the tunnel in the area has now been backfilled. Tunnel construction under Albert Street is expected to be completed next month, with backfilling to follow in October.
The $4.4 billion (NZD) City Rail Link project involves the construction of a 3.5-kilometre, double track underground tunnel through Auckland’s central business district that runs from Britomart Transport Centre to Mount Eden Railway Station. The project is due to be fully completed by 2024 and is considered by City Rail Link itself to be New Zealand’s largest-ever transport infrastructure project.
“Further disruption will be unavoidable, but we are committed to minimising impacts and working with our partners to keep traffic, particularly bus services, moving through our work sites,” Sweeney added.