America's Cup: Waterfront upgrades too late for Cup after coronavirus delays

Friday, 24 July 2020

An aerial view of progress on the America's Cup bases, showing the extension of Hobson Wharf

Some key projects in the $100 million revamp of downtown Auckland will now not be ready in time for the America’s Cup due to construction delays during the coronavirus lockdown.

Upgrades to the harbour side of Quay St and new ferry berths on Queens Wharf will miss their original December 2020 deadline.

Along with the Karangahape Rd cycleway, they now won’t be ready until April – June 2021.

Upgrades around the Viaduct Basin, which will be the focal point for America’s Cup activity, are due to finish on time and on budget by October this year.

Public space and gardens and the harbour edge of Quay Street will not be completed until perhaps April 2021.

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A plan showing construction completion dates for projects around Auckland's downtown waterfront

Auckland Council said the biggest delay was to the harbour edge of Queen St, which may not be finished until mid-2021.

The delay includes the flagship element of the downtown upgrades, a public space with small sunken gardens, between Queens and Princes wharves.

A large part of Wynyard Point was cleared for America's Cup bases (video from July 2020)

“It will be well-progressed but won’t be finished,” Barry Potter, the council’s director of infrastructure and environment services said.

“The structure will be in place but the plantings, the furniture and the pavings won’t be until some time in the first quarter of 2021.”

Potter said a priority was to ensure good access from Queen St through to the site of the Cup action in the Wynyard Quarter, and the city side of Quay St will be finished to allow that.

The work had been slowed by difficulties struck in re-building the seawall, which is now complete, but the Covid-19 lockdown had caused further delays.

Potter said the council is trying to claw back up to eight weeks of construction time with a plan to make Quay St one-way only to give more space for the work.

In uptown Auckland, the major upgrade of Karangahape Rd, with dedicated cycle lanes and wider footpaths, will also miss the end-of-year deadline and continue until March or April 2021.

The projects are part of a bundle of work worth $120 million and aimed at making downtown Auckland more attractive for the Cup and other major events planned for 2021.

Potter said overall the work was on budget and parts that were over were balanced by some that were under budget.

The extension of the Hobson and Halsey St wharves and the creation of team base areas on Wynyard wharf is “90 per cent” complete and will be finished on time by October.

The three challengers have begun work on buildings they will occupy over the next few months.

The council is spending $184 million around Wynyard Quarter, upgrading a major storm water drain, creating the base areas and extending Hobson Wharf as a “legacy project” once its Cup role is over.

Potter said other works would be finished on time by the end of the year, including the revamp of Lower Albert St and Lower Queen St, along with the new streetscape in Albert St where a section of the City Rail Link tunnels have been completed.