Selwyn district councillors met on Wednesday to discuss the project and the concerns raised by businesses on Gerald St, which is largely blocked by roadworks due to the $46 million upgrade to the town centre.
One idea to speed the roadworks up and bring the scheduled finish date for stage one forward from the end of July was to continue the work during weekends.
Selwyn Times reported last week the Lincoln Convenience Store and Cottage Cafe were unsure if they would be able to stay open until July, with both losing money.
Convenience store owner Rick Sun said anything to speed up the project would help them.
"If it means they have to work on the weekend, I’m okay with that,” he said.
Cottage Cafe owner Surekha Puda said at the moment Saturday is their busiest day as customers come in because there are no roadworks happening.
But Puda was supportive of the roadworks happening on the weekends if it meant the project could be finished sooner.
"Even if they can just trial it to see if it works would help.”
Further along Gerald St, Coffee Culture owner Steve Jaeger is also losing money.
“The longer they are doing it, the worse it is going to be for me. The faster they get it done, the better.”
Jaeger said if it became desperate, the Coffee Culture head office could keep the business afloat.
At the meeting, council head of capital works David Spriggs said changing the hours of work to include weekends would be too difficult at this stage and add additional costs to the project.
Spriggs said it could also cause issues like noise complaints and worker burnout.
Council acting executive director infrastructure and property, Keith Beal, told Selwyn Times the council sets the completion date but does not control when the work is carried out.
“When a contract is tendered, the agreement is made with the contractor on the schedule that it will deliver the work by, and it is the responsibility of the contractor to meet that date.”
Stage one of the redevelopment will cost about $10.4m and include a plaza area to replace the angled car parks outside shops.
It will also include new cycle lanes, multiple pedestrian crossings, and traffic lights at the Gerald St and West Belt intersection.
After stage one, work is expected to start on a major hospitality and retail precinct, called Lincoln Village, on the corner of Gerald and Robert Sts.
Work on the precinct is planned to start in the middle of this year, and will be completed in five stages over two to four years.
’Health and safety gone nuts’
A Fulton Hogan staff member is helping people to cross a small footbridge between a car park and the Gerald St shops.
The temporary footbridge was installed at the request of businesses from the car park between Lyttelton and William Sts to the Gerald St shops via a driveway past Lincoln Family Barber.
As part of the footbridge trial, a person has been collecting data, including the number of people using the footbridge, for the council.
The person is also required to help people cross the bridge if needed, which councillor Denise Carrick has described as “madness”.
She said if it was up to her, she would not have someone placed there.
"That must be the safest part of Lincoln’s town centre at the moment . . . so it is health and safety gone nuts.”
Carrick said she is planning to raise it at today’s council briefing on the project.
Beal said any risk reduction must be considered as part of the overall cost.
“This additional pedestrian route is a short-term measure proposed to be in place while Lincoln town centre construction work has a significant impact on footpaths in the immediate area,” he said.
Firefighters riding bikes to the station
Some volunteer firefighters in Lincoln have swapped four wheels for two to get around the roadworks faster.
Lincoln Volunteer Fire Brigade station officer Dylan Bryant is one of two staff members using a bike to get to the fire station faster.
"From my house (on Maurice St) I could get to the station pre-roadworks in 40 seconds driving, now takes up to seven minutes, on the bike it takes a minute and a half,” he said.
Bryant said it is not the best when it is raining or at night.
"You arrive at the station, and your heart's pumping and the legs are burning already.”
Lincoln deputy fire chief Tim Quinlivan said the brigade is still using Gerald St to get to calls.
He said during the day, their response can be delayed a few minutes if they get stuck at the traffic lights, but generally they are let through quickly.
