Wellington City Council project manager Anna Harley says the crane work is an essential part of building the elegant new glass canopy that will replace the leaky old one that was removed last month.
“The new canopy will let more light in and help make the lane a lot more attractive for the more than million people a year who travel on the Cable Car,” she says.
"This is our second most popular tourist destination, a key transport link for locals, and right in the heart of Lambton Quay – so we want to improve the experience and make this lane another feature of the city we can be proud of.”
The new frame is being installed over a weekend to help minimise disruption. The work is weather dependent so will need to be postponed to another weekend if winds of more than 30km/hr are forecast.
“We’ll make a call on Friday (5 August). If it is all go, traffic management will be in place from 8pm that night. The trolley bus wires will be taken down and the crane set up overnight so the lifting work can get under way early on Saturday morning.”
Businesses will be open as usual and pedestrians will still be able to use the area, including Cable Car Lane.
The 100-tonne crane with a 45-metre boom needs to be positioned on the road adjacent to Cable Car Lane. This means a section of Lambton Quay from Willis Street to Brandon Street will be closed to general traffic and buses, and a detour will be place.
There will also be less parking than usual in Brandon and Panama streets as buses will be using these streets.
During the road closure, buses will take a slightly different route. Most bus stops on Lambton Quay will operate as usual but two stops will be closed:
- the one by the ANZ Bank (heading towards Willis Street)
- the one outside Cable Car Lane.
The temporary buses to the Cable Car Lookout will leave from Lambton Quay near Farmers during the weekend.
The trolley bus wires will be reinstalled once the work is complete and things will be back to normal by early Monday.
The Cable Car, which is being upgraded, will be back in action on Monday 15 August.
The work being done in the lane – which is the first part of a two-stage upgrade – is due to be complete in October 2016.