A celebration marking the opening of Whangarei's first "shared space" will be a light at the end of the tunnel for business owners affected by the $2.7 million revamp of Cameron St Mall.
The bungled installation of a new type of drain has been the only major hiccup in the project so far " though this would not affect the project's completion date or council's budget, said Whangarei District Council infrastructure and services project engineer Rachael Mannion.
"Slot" drains were a new addition to Whangarei and were large hexagonal pipes underground with a 1cm slot along the top, flush with the pavement.
![An artist's impression of what the corner of Cameron and James Sts will look like by next month.](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/GTETTZIK6PLMLXS2FG3CBEH4OU.jpg?auth=0d97f809b1efe8ab1e612ccf1892e623997c6d76df3890d5cb5a774856cbd341&width=16&height=10&quality=70&smart=true)
They stopped water pooling on the road and were more visually pleasing, Ms Mannion said.