Southbank Promenade works to be completed “soon”

Traders are relieved that work is finally coming to an end on the section of the Southbank Promenade in front of the Hamer Hall.

The work has created a dark tunnel for six months and a crush for cyclists and pedestrians.

Speaking to Southbank News in early November, workers estimated that the temporary fencing would be down in the next two weeks.

The City of Melbourne has confirmed that the completion date has been moved out from mid-October until the end of November.

But traders are still disbelieving that the tiling and balustrade will be completed by then.  

“It was meant to be finished a month ago,” a worker told Southbank News.

Yosuke Katanaka, the executive chef Saké, a Japanese fusion restaurant cut off from the river by a two-and-a-half-metre-high black hoarding, said the completion date had changed continually.

“It has dragged on. They kept saying this week, then the next week,” he said. “I’m sick and tired of working in a dungeon.” 

The new paving will widen the promenade and alleviate the bottleneck in front of the restaurants.

Stage Two of the Southbank Promenade upgrade has been postponed until after the busy summer period. •

Caption: View of the promenade works from Princes’ Bridge.