A major revamp of the Town Basin’s bus and visitor facilities has kicked off and is paving the way for cruise ship passengers to flock into Whangārei.

After the project had been put on ice for 2.5 years, a $3.3 million upgrade to the Town Basin infrastructure – including the stop for tour buses, public toilets as well as upgraded car parks and pedestrian paths – is finally going ahead.

Whangārei District Council’s manager of Infrastructure Programmes, Shelley Wharton, said the project, which has received a $1.67m grant from the Tourism Infrastructure Fund, will improve the area for visitors and the wider community.

“In 2020 we were expecting a boom in visitors to our district, once the Hundertwasser Art Centre and Pūtahi Park opened and cruise ships started arriving at Northport.”

But then the pandemic hit and no cruise ships arrived at Northport, Hundertwasser and Pūtahi Park were delayed and the Town Basin upgrade, like many construction projects, was put on hold.

“We are very pleased to see this project back on the schedule,” Wharton said.

The improvements will allow tour buses to drop off and pick up passengers from cruise ships. The new layout allows for tour buses to parallel park without the need to reverse in a heavily pedestrianised area.

Northport couldn’t say yet when the first cruise ships will berth in Whangārei but indicated it would be later this year.

There will also be new public toilets near the Town Basin playground and upgraded car parks with more mobility-friendly parking, along with improved footpaths and landscaping.

Accessible parking has been relocated to the adjoining car park outside the existing toilets, and will not have to be relocated throughout the staged works. When completed there will be additional accessible parking distributed throughout the new layout.

The upgrade means that the Town Basin will lose around 20 car parks.

“While there will be some loss of car parks, the new layout will be safer and more efficient for buses and vehicles as well as providing clearer pedestrian routes and more high-quality pedestrian spaces for this popular area,” Wharton said.

The car park currently has 70 parks including mobility parking and EV charging points.

With the new layout there will be 50-51 car parks.

However, the works at the Town Basin improve pedestrian access to the nearby Carruth St car park ($2 per day) and the Finlayson St car park (free).

“It is a very exciting and rewarding time with all the developments happening in this part of town,” Wharton said.

Meanwhile, traffic disruption will mostly be to couriers and deliveries wanting to use the service lane.

“This is an aspect of the safe design to avoid vehicles reversing in pedestrian areas.”

The existing bus terminal and public toilets are not affected during construction.

The upgrade is scheduled to be completed by May 2023.