However, at least two city councillors have questioned the size of the order, describing it as excessive.
Cr Lee Vandervis said there had been "extraordinary over-ordering" of bespoke pavers and surplus stock sat in a council yard.
Cr Andrew Whiley said he was "not comfortable with such a large level of excess inventory".
"I have visited the site where the pavers are stored and I was stunned to see so many pallets of pavers."
The Dunedin City Council said about 223 pallets were in storage and each would cover about 10sq m.
There were no storage costs and the number of pavers stored was "not unexpected", a council spokesman said.
Spare stock could be used to replace pavers damaged by accidents, heavy transport, construction activity, minor design modifications to the street, wear and tear and "works by other infrastructure providers", he said.
"As pavers get older, the need to replace more will increase."
The council initially allowed for 5%-10% of the total to be surplus after the upgrade of the retail area, as this would enable maintenance or replacement of paving.
"We have 12%," the council spokesman said.
"Given future orders will cost more, particularly for small batches, we believe this approach constitutes a long-term saving."
Cr Vandervis asked during a meeting in October about what he called a significant number of pallets of excess tiles.
Council major projects programme manager Josh von Pein said in response they were quite bespoke pavers.
Mr von Pein was reasonably confident service providers would need to do work in the main street "in the next couple of years" and extra pavers would be needed as a result.
The council also pointed out old pavers in use before the upgrade had to be repaired or replaced "constantly", and "as areas wore over time, entire sections were replaced with new ones".
Infrastructure services committee chairman Cr Jim O’Malley highlighted at the October meeting there had been rumours of a massive over-order.
Such rumours were not true, the council said.
Cr O’Malley said at the meeting there had been exceptional delivery of the project overall.
It was complex, completed ahead of schedule and alignment with the budget had been maintained, he said.
The council said the overall cost of the paving was $2.3 million.
The Otago Daily Times asked if extra pavers could be used for another upgrade in future, such as the Octagon.
"Yes, they could, but there would not be enough to complete a project like the Octagon and more would have to be ordered," the council spokesman said.
Cr Whiley said there was potential for the pavers to have a future use, "so they won’t be wasted, but that quantity should never have been ordered".
He had a theory some had been intended for use in Bath St, but councillors decided a year ago to scrap a more expensive upgrade there so they could keep it within budget.
The council said Bath St did not cause the extent of the surplus.
"The contractor ordered what they believed were necessary for George St - plus the maintenance spares we asked for," the spokesman said.
"There ended up being slightly more than we initially requested, which is not unexpected given they were ordering off plans and 2% over such a large number of pavers is not excessive."
Councillors chose what was described as a moderate upgrade for Bath St.
"The inference that a moderate option for Bath St precludes pavers is not true," the council spokesman said.
A mix of asphalt and pavers was likely, it had been stated.
"We did not request the contractor purchase any more pavers for Bath St or any other project."
