FRAGMENTED walking paths and a lack of shade in Kadina’s central business district are being replaced by a more pedestrian-friendly entrance.
The town is receiving an $9-million upgrade to make Graves Street and surrounding areas a more inviting place for people to walk and socialise.
Among the changes are:
- A shared zone for walking, cycling and driving along Graves Street between Goyder and Hallett streets.
- Flexible spaces for parking, seating, displays or market stalls.
- Street trees and landscaping aligned with seating areas, outdoor dining and increased widths to veranda canopies.
The project has been divided into two stages.
Stage one includes 400 car parks on Frances Terrace and underground stormwater on Digby, Goyder and Graves streets.
Work started last month and is expected to take six months to complete.
Stage two will include working on a central mall and adjoining street networks.
A tender process for stage two will be launched in February.
District Council of the Copper Coast chief executive officer Peter Harder said a number of roads and footpaths were at the end of their life cycle.
“It was really just a question of if we replace them exactly the same or take the opportunity to slightly change the configuration,” he said.
“The traders wanted us to change it and create a town centre with more shade and better pedestrian access to give it more of a shopping centre feel.”
Mr Harder said the Copper Coast was growing and Kadina played an important role as the commercial centre for the Yorke Peninsula.
“While our coastal towns are growing at 10 times the rate of Kadina as far as residential development, Kadina is certainly the commercial hub and where new businesses want to be,” he said.
Mr Harder said about 40 per cent of property owners lived outside of Kadina.
“We are seeing a lot of people – in particular baby boomers – move to the Copper Coast permanently who have had a house in Adelaide and a shack here. Kadina plays an important role in that process,” he said