Pavers on King William Road to be ripped up
KING William Rd’s iconic pavers will need to be ripped up and replaced – possibly with asphalt – within the next three to five years, Unley Council says.
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KING William Rd’s iconic pavers will need to be ripped up and replaced – possibly with asphalt – within the next three to five years, Unley Council says.
The council says repaving the section from Mitchell St to Arthur St would cost as much as $8 million, while an asphalt surface would lower the bill to $5.2 million.
Unley chief executive Peter Tsokas said the pavers were “nearing the end of their effective life”.
“All pavers and road structures have a defined life,” Mr Tsokas said.
“The King William Rd surface was laid in 1985 and hence (is) nearing the time to be redone.”
About 28,000 pavers were laid on King William Rd from 1985 to 1987, forming the longest paved road of its kind in Australia.
In 2014, a council-commissioned masterplan for the shopping strip found resurfacing the 600m section between Arthur and Mitchell streets with “high-end pavers” would cost $8.1 million.
Councillors and senior staff last week discussed the pavers’ condition during a workshop on a masterplan for King William Rd.
At the workshop, Unley infrastructure general manager John Devine said car oil had seeped into the pavers over the past 30 years and “contaminated” the road surface.
“It (the road) has probably needed to be upgraded for a while,” Mr Devine told the workshop.
“We have held it off and resisted so that we can have a more integrated approach with the King William Rd masterplan.”
Mr Tsokas – who was at the workshop – said an asphalt or coloured paved surface were among options for a future upgrade of the council-owned thoroughfare.
“I was not around in the ’80s but we need to think about whether that is the best option moving forward,” Mr Tsokas said.
After the meeting, Mr Tsokas told the Eastern Courier Messenger the pavers were “structurally sound” and the “contamination” – oil, grit and dirt – had not affected the road’s condition.
King William Rd Traders’ Association chair Cassandra Liebeknecht hoped any new road surface would retain the strip’s “uniqueness”.
“The pavers are iconic to King William Rd and they add to the ambience of the street,” Ms Liebeknecht said.
The wider King William Rd masterplan – announced in 2014 – included provisions to replace on-street carparks with outdoor dining areas and trees.
The council last year trialled temporary outdoor dining spaces – known as parklets – and had this year budgeted $200,000 to create permanent “kerb build-outs” at cafes and restaurants.
Unley Council urban design manager Keith Davis believed that money would be better spent on creating a more detailed plan before starting work on the wider project in the next two financial years.
The council’s long-term financial plan includes $3 million across 2017/18 and 2019/20 for work on King William Rd.
The masterplan was expected to be discussed at a council committee meeting in the coming months.