With construction work stalling on Hamilton's new bus terminal last week because of inclement weather - and no concrete deadline set for its completion - the temporary depot adjacent to City Hall Park is coming increasingly under the spotlight.

The Royal Gazette was told two weeks ago that work on the terminal would begin in earnest this past Monday - although daily checks of the site have revealed only a bare minimum of activity.

Nevertheless, assistant director of Government communications Valerie Pethen said yesterday work had been taking place, despite a number of delays “due to inclement weather”.

“Since Tuesday of this week, the contractor has been working on the site undertaking mainly ground related construction activities,” she said. “These include trench excavations for vaults and the ticket office foundation.

“Work is due to continue on trenching across Washington Street this weekend to minimise interruption and inconvenience to traffic and to the public. Work on the ticket office foundations will resume next week.”

The project is due for completion some time this summer.

The Royal Gazette took to the streets last week in an attempt to gauge public opinion on the current facility and the bus service in general.

Zoey Pearman: “I think its pretty good and if I'm being honest I think I prefer it. The service is pretty regular and there is much more space to move around in than the old one. I don't know when the new station is going to be finished but I'm quite happy here for the time being.

Veronica Williams: “I've got really bad legs and this terminal is too far away from the shopping centre I use. The system is also really confusing - all the buses are pointing in different directions and I have no idea some times if I'm getting on the right bus. I liked the old one better and I hope they finish the building quickly.”

Katherine Franklin: “I'm a regular bus user and I have to say that while the other one is better, this terminal is OK, even though I would not like to see it stay here. The service is good, although there are far too many rude bus drivers for my liking. Sometimes you get a nice one, but most of them are pretty grumpy and not very friendly.”

Brenda Simons: “This is certainly not as good as the old terminal. My problem is that the shelter is not adequate. The shelters are far too small and if it rains and there is any wind, you end up getting wet unless you have a rain jacket. Also, they do not clean out the trash cans next to the shelters very regularly so there are always loads of bees flying around the trash and somebody could get stung. They've got to empty the trash more regularly and do something about the shelters because they don't work.”

Alissa Hayward: “The old terminal was properly shaded but in this one you cannot get away from the weather. When the sun is out there is no shade and under the glass shelters it is really really hot and humid. And when it rains it is very hard not to get wet. So there has got to be more protection from the weather. Saying that though, this station is a lot more spacious.”

Paul French: “I don't usually take the bus but funnily enough I've started to more now that the Hamilton terminal is here. Everything about it is better and it is far less dirty than the other place and you do not get as many shady characters hanging around it for no particular reason. So its fine as far as I'm concerned. I just wish there were more buses and that the drivers weren't so darn unfriendly most of the time!”

Ben Williams: “I cannot stand the bus and I'm only taking it because my bike's in the shop. This terminal seems OK to me, although I certainly wouldn't rave about it. I rarely used the old one but just by sight it looked a little dirty and run-down and in need of some work. But Government seems to have a bit of a problem getting construction work finished, so goodness knows when the new terminal will be up and running.”