The work on Camp St involved the construction of a new sewer main the full length of the street, as well as building stormwater drains and new kerbing and channelling.
Footpaths were rebuilt and paved and new street furniture, including seats, bicycle stands, planters, lighting and interpretation panels were installed.
QLDC engineering general manager Mark Kunath said the council replaced and improved old sewers along Camp St and Cow Lane and old sections of water main along Camp and Ballarat Sts.
"Delta and Telstra also took the opportunity to install ducts for future fibre optic telecommunications cabling across the street and along the footpaths to points near the businesses connecting to these services to limit future excavation."
Physical work for the upgrade started in the middle of March last year and completion is expected before the Christmas holidays.
However, some of the pavers sourced from China were substandard and had to be replaced.
"Having received the first shipment of replace-ment pavers, work has restarted on paving the remaining sections at Church St and between the Mall and Shotover St," Mr Kunath said.
"Some replacement of defective pavers is likely to be left until after the Christmas holiday period."
Mr Kunath said the reason the project had taken so long was to minimise disruption by keeping streets open, if only one way.
The council also avoided the resort's busy periods, such as summer holidays from late December to early February, Winter Festival and ski season, from late June to September, and the winter road construction period of May to September.
Sequencing various aspects of construction was another factor in Camp St's prolonged upgrade, Mr Kunath said.
Pipe laying was a slow and steady process while avoiding existing services, he said.
The roading crew worked over a couple of blocks for a short period and delivery of materials for the streetscaping contributed to the stop-start nature of the work and extended the duration of the project.
Sewer works cost $1.07 million.
Landscaping, street-scaping and footpaths cost $1.66 million and road paving cost $1.31 million.
The new sewers were designed by Connell Wagner, QLDC's panel consultant, and the roading design was carried out by Opus International Consultants, which was also involved in the Shotover St upgrade and in other roading improvements in Central Otago and throughout the country.
Streetscaping was the responsibility of Baxter Design Group, which also worked on Shotover St and the Sofitel precinct.
Camp St was not expected to be disrupted to the same extent for decades.
Mr Kunath said Camp St's road pavement would be likely to last for 25 years and the sewer design'slifespan was 80 years.
"Streetscaping elements are a little more subjective because they lose their appeal before they lose their effectiveness, but we expect them to be functional for more than 20 years."
With Camp St almost done, the council is assessing work on Church and Earl Sts and the Marine Pde block.
Work will start there in 2009-10.
"Beach St will come up for redevelopment within the 10-year period but it has not been prioritised yet," Mr Kunath said.
"Removing traffic completely or at certain times of the day or night will be considered during concept design. No time-frame has been set for that yet."
Cow Lane, Rees St and the Mall will also fall into that 10-year plan.
