Construction work to revitalise Wellington’s Golden Mile will start from late September this year. Work starts on the side roads off Lambton Quay where we’re installing mobility parks and access ramps.
The Golden Mile project will create a safe and beautiful heart of the city with generous spaces, attractive native trees and mana whenua designs, for people to shop, work or socialise, by shifting the focus to public transport, walking and cycling and reducing reliance on private vehicles.
We’re creating more reliable bus services through new special vehicle lanes, as well as bike lanes and wider footpaths, new shared spaces, plantings, seating, and other improvements that will revitalise the city centre’s retail, social, cultural, and entertainment experience.
Work will start on 29 September 2023 at Grey Street and will continue on the other Lambton Quay side roads till mid to late November, weather dependent. This work involves painting new road markings and excavating existing footpath to install ramps for easy access of the new mobility parks. This work is planned from Monday to Friday between 7am and 6pm.
“We know easy access is important, especially during the main construction, that’s why we’re prioritising installing some of the new mobility parking early. Our designs provide for additional mobility parks, meaning there will be a mobility park within 30-50m of most of Lambton Quay and the eastern end of Courtenay Place and within 100m of the entrance of St James Theatre”, says LGWM Programme Director Sarah Gardner.
After pausing all construction to give businesses the best opportunity to make the most of the busy pre-Christmas period, the next phase of work will start early in the new year.
In early 2024, we will start work at the intersection of Cambridge/Kent Terrace and Courtenay Place. We will be reconstructing the footpath and installing underground ducts for power and communications cables to allow us to upgrade and change the traffic lights.
At this intersection, you will also have a new and improved pedestrian crossing. We’re changing the median island to make crossing the road by bike and walking better and to improve right turns into Majoribanks Street.
The roading changes on Courtenay Place are designed to create more space for people to enjoy the area with less general traffic during peak times. At night times (between 7pm-7am), general traffic is allowed on Courtenay Place to ensure people can safely get to and from the area.
Further work early in the new year is planned on Featherston Street to upgrade several intersections. This work will help accommodate the construction of the closed side road ends on Lambton Quay with Stout, Waring Taylor, Johnston, and Brandon Streets. The Golden Mile design includes layout changes for vehicle turning, mobility parks, additional loading bays and taxi stands. To enable these changes on the side roads, kerb lines at the intersections with Featherston Street will need to be changed first.
Our main construction work starts from mid-2024 at the Cambridge Terrace end of Courtenay Place. Courtenay Place will be transformed into a wide open space for people to walk and enjoy all the excellent bars, restaurants and other businesses this area has to offer.
LGWM Programme Director Sarah Gardner: “While we start with minor work, from mid next year this major project will really kick off. Throughout all of our construction, we will work with residents, businesses, organisations, and services to share information about the works, and to understand their delivery and access needs.”
What’s next
We’ve been conducting underground investigations in recent weeks to make sure we know about the ground condition and exactly where important services like water pipes and electricity cables are buried.
The information from these investigations is helping us to finalise the detailed design plans and further construction programming.
We’ll provide regular updates on our website and in an email newsletter which you can subscribe to here: