The ribbon has been cut at Nelson’s new bus hub, but it won’t be open to passengers for another week.
The region’s bright blue eBuses will start using the Millers Acre depot from Friday 19 December, but the new canopies are not slated to be completed until the end of February.
“It's opening on time, but not completed on time,” says Mayor Nick Smith.
Nevertheless, he described the bus hub’s opening as a “very significant and important step forward” for the region’s public transport network.
“If you’re going to make public transport services work, you need to bring together as many as possible in a common connecting point.”
The site, in addition to Nelson Tasman’s eBus service, will be used by InterCity, services out to Golden Bay, the Abel Tasman, and Nelson Lakes, tourist buses, as well as some school buses.
“Our aim is to make Nelson a really well-connected city with a great bus hub that will enable people to be able to get into our central city for work and for play… that we all feel proud of.”
The $4.6 million project was entirely funded by Nelson City Council, with the New Zealand Transport Agency declining to contribute to the project after national transport priorities shifted under the Coalition Government.
Nick says he was a “a bit disappointed” that NZTA had not come to the party, but took solace in getting other grants, such as to the council's Maitai River flood protection projects, which were more than half-funded by the Government.
“You win some, you lose some.”
The bus hub will come in under budget, but there were “challenges” while it was being built, according to contractor Isaac Construction’s Nelson branch manager, Toby O’Sullivan.
Wet weather over the winter affected when concrete could be poured, delaying the project, which involved 3000 tonnes, or 1250 cubic metres, of the material.
The council’s manager capital projects, Rebecca Dawkins, says the council has “invested a lot of energy into making sure we can get [the hub] as safe as possible”, after the existing Bridge Street bus depot has suffered from bouts of vandalism.
Seven CCTV cameras were monitored by police 24/7, with durable materials used inside the hub to make it “fairly indestructible”.
Additional improvements have been added, including speakers to announce bus departures, a digital kiosk for information about the city, and more seating.
eBus advocate Mark Rosser says the new hub was “fantastic”, and had better facilities than the Bridge Street depot in the central city.
He acknowledged that the new depot was less central, but added that, once the additional planned stops were added on the ring roads around Nelson’s CBD, the new layout would stimulate business.
“That’ll allow a lot more foot traffic from the eBus to converge on the fringe and criss-cross the city through all the various walkways.”
The existing Bridge Street depot will be used by Isaac Construction while the company also works on the upgrade of the street, which will resume next year.
Nick says the council was in the final stages of negotiations for selling the Bridge Street site to “significantly offset” the cost of the Millers Acre depot, and to enable a “very exciting development”, with details hoped to be announced early next year.
The River Kitchen will also have an expanded outside space at Millers Acre as a result of the works, while the city's new arts hub is expected to open on site in July.
