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Development opportunities post-CRL:
Plans after CRL construction for:
CRL is not just a rail project. The city centre will be transformed. Careful thought is being given into the opportunities presented when the construction teams leave.
Here’s how the lower end of Albert Street looks now the tunnel work there is finished.
Now Connectus JV has finished constructions under the lower end of Albert Street, the street has been restored and improved with vehicle traffic, wider footpaths, new street furniture, trees and bus bays.
This fly-through video shows the greatly improved Albert Street when all the City Rail Link work is finished there.
Wider footpaths... trees... bus lanes... pedestrian-friendly.
Old piece of Auckland kept and restored
An historic wall in the way of the City Rail Link Albert Street tunnel construction is being painstakingly preserved.
It's the oldest piece of road construction in the central city that was made from local material. The bluestone wall is along the eastern side of Albert Street, between Wyndham Street and Victoria Street West. It was completed in 1880 following the widening of Durham Street.
It was carefully deconstructed stone by stone and then reconstructed in exactly the same sequence but moved one metre to the east of where it was.
YESTERDAY: Bluestone wall as it was
SOON: A impression of the wall restored after CRL
It's a split level section of roadway. The slip road off Albert Street is up to 5m below the level of the main road alignment.
Men's public toilets, now closed, were part of the wall at the Durham Street intersection and were constructed underneath the road in 1880 but have been modified over time. There was little remaining of the original fabric apart from some painted screens between cubicles.
The toilets, which have been closed for a number of years, cannot be reinstated within the bluestone wall because of space constraints. With the Aotea underground train station going in immediately underneath, there is a large amount of plant and electrical equipment that needs to go where the toilets lie.
The toilets and tiles themselves were actually refurbished in 1995 and aren’t considered heritage items. However the project will keep the cast iron screens. These will be restored and reinstated on site as part of the plant and Vector substation room. Detailed design is still progressing, but the intention is that they’re visible to the public from the outside.
WALL: A wall hanging inside the toilets
CUBICLE: The doors on the cubicles
The bluestone wall was built by contractor Daniel Fallon. In an obituary published in the Auckland Star on 28 September 1920, Daniel Fallon is described as someone "who had much to do with works in connection with the development of Auckland" and that "he built for the future."
Those works included reclamation works in the Waitematā Harbour, the area that is now Victoria Park and the construction of the railway from Mercer to Ngaruawahia and Ohaupo to Te Awamutu.
See what’s also planned when CRL construction at Lower Queen Street is finished:
Post-CRL development opportunites
The CRL has identified considerable development potential after construction of the underground rail link is completed.
As well as improving public transport access to most parts of the city centre and major employment areas, the project will stimulate private investment and facilitate a substantial amount of development around station locations.
Read about the post-CRL opportunities at these other stations:
