‘Soft Start’ necessary for Union Street Central works

You may have been wondering why there appears to be little construction activity in the Union Street Central area after the lane restrictions were implemented at the end of April 2024.

There are two main reasons for this ‘soft start’ approach to the project:

1. An initial settling in period was necessary to allow delivery drivers, taxis and cyclists get used to the one-way access lane running west from Bridge Street towards Market Street. This one-way direction of travel has been established for the safety of pedestrians using the area and to ensure road users who still have access are familiar with the traffic management layout before the main construction workforce arrive on site.
2. There are a great deal of pre-construction works to be carried out before the main improvement works can begin. These works are being carried out by small teams of one or two site staff performing essential surveys and checks which must be completed before the main construction work can begin.

These types of work often go unnoticed by the public and include:

• pre-condition surveys on building adjacent to the work area
• noise surveys to establish a baseline for noise prior to the start of works
• checking street surface levels
• surveying drainage and utility services locations

The surveys and checks are necessary as maps and drawings showing drains, cables and other utilities may be out of date or missing vital details. Some of the storm drains currently being located and checked under Union Street date back to when it was originally built 200-years ago.

This survey work will shortly move forward with ‘trial pits’ being dug in parts of the street to allow further investigations. The surveys may uncover utility cables and other works not recorded on any maps or technical drawings and we need to be check to see if they are still operational.

Site cabins and other equipment will shortly begin to be placed in the project area and there will be increased activity by utility firms.

The Union Street Central shops and businesses are open for business as usual with full pedestrian access during all of this. The only change is that buses are being diverted away from the Union Street Central section and new temporary bus stops have been established on Bridge Street and Market Street for the duration of the work.

After completing the pre-construction activities, we will erect site hoardings around the first 100 meters of the construction area at the Market Street end. Once the site hoardings are up the main construction work will begin.