Dunedin's long-awaited central city upgrade could come at a cost of up to $60 million.
That figure has been included as one of three options for councillors in the draft 10-year plan.
The figure is a big increase on the $37.3million allocated for the central city upgrade so far.
A report in the draft plan said the money would pay for upgrades and renewals of roads, footpaths and streetscapes in four areas, George St, Lower Stuart and Bath Sts, Princes St and Rattray St, and the Exchange.
"As the warehouse precinct has shown, private investment in redevelopment can be encouraged by public investment in streetscape transformation.''
The report noted it was expected to take 18 months to complete design, consultation, and procurement before work could start.
The $60 million option would result in "a high-quality upgrade'' across the central city, though the figure did not include the cost of below-ground work on infrastructure, which shows up in the three waters budget.
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Comments
How much of the $60 million will be used to correct the stupid lane markings at various intersections around the central city? There are a number of intersections (Hanover St & George St heading NW for example) where there is a dedicated right-turn lane and a straight/left turn lane but with the lights having a green light with left-turn red arrow. Traffic cannot proceed straight because of the lane markings and if a vehicle is waiting to turn left (due to the red arrow), no traffic flows in that direction. By the time the pedestrian crossing is clear for vehicles to turn left only 1 or 2 vehicles can go straight through towards Filleul St.
This expenditure, along with the cost of the proposed infrastructure rehabilitation and improvements would be easier to support if I could be confident that none was to be wasted on more Green-Left follies, in particular the waste on bicycle lanes and the like.
Can the Council give such an assurance that could be believed?