The shared pathway along the new Stead St Stopbank will be open from 5pm on Friday, June 3. 

Invercargill City Council has been upgrading the Stead St and Cobbe Rd stopbanks with a sheet pile wall and earthen embankment to protect the city, the Invercargill Airport and critical infrastructure from extreme weather events, sea level rise and further effects of climate change. 

Invercargill City Council Manager Engineering Services Jeremy Rees said the pathway, now wider and with safer, smooth surfacing, was ready to roll.

“This is another big milestone for the project which has seen the final major component of works completed – the laying of landscape aggregate between the wall and path – being completed. Now this has been completed we can now safely reopen the shared pathway for use,” he said.

“It’s very satisfying to have new parts of this wonderful project to share with our community.”

 “Users will still need to be careful when accessing the pathway as, while it is now open, work will still continue at the site.”

Landscaping would continue along the stretch of road, and after winter work will take place, which will encompass the cutural artwork designed for the Stopbank. The artwork, designed and developed by Waihōpai Rūnaka, would celebrate and reflect the beauty, bounty and importance of the Estuary and the Waihōpai River.

The speed limit for traffic would also be raised to 50km/h along Stead St from Friday at 5pm. As the project moves into the next phase of work the speed limit may change again periodically, he said. 

“We ask that everyone please take extreme care as there is still work taking place.”

The Stead St Stopbank Upgrade is a “shovel ready” climate resilience project, partially funded by Kānoa, incorporating a kilometre of sheetpile stopbank, two kilometres of earthen embankment stopbank, along with two and a half kilometres of shared-use path and associated landscaping.