Work is expected to begin in April on a $5 million project to stabilise an embankment off Memorial Drive, where a footpath has been closed since 2021.
Newcastle councillors voted to accept the contract on February 27, which will repair the 115m-long section of the embankment compromised by a land slip which happened during heavy rain in March 2021.
City of Newcastle has sourced $3 million from the Australian government's Roads to Recovery funding program for the works, which are expected to take a year.
The works will include a new retaining wall with steel-reinforced concrete piles to be poured vertically through the underlying rock.
The storm water channel will also be upgraded to improve the flow of water during heavy rain.
This will be followed by construction of a new street-level footpath on top of the renewed embankment to replace the temporary access, along with kerb, guttering and road resurfacing.
A temporary footpath was installed on the roadway in 2023 to allow access on the western side of Memorial Drive and down Fenton Avenue.
Memorial Drive is used by more than 10,000 cars every day and Newcastle lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes said the "complex" project would ensure the safety of pedestrians and motorists using the popular footpath and road.
"We have carried out extensive geotechnical investigations to determine the work required for this complex project, which takes into consideration the constraints presented by this site," Cr Nelmes said.
"We will be able to deliver this project with minimal disruption to traffic, maintaining the two-lane, two-way traffic flow on Memorial Drive for the duration of the construction."
In the council debate, Liberal councillor Callum Pull asked why the recommended tender was the most expensive of the eight tenders received in 2023.
City of Newcastle executive director city infrastructure Clint Thomson explained that the preferred tenderer, Symal Infrastructure, met the criteria and council's tender evaluation team had concerns about the next two highest ranked quotes.
"This was certainly something that we challenged when the result came through," Mr Thomson said.
"As they were highest cost, we did look at the second and third placed tenderers as their non-price scoring was reasonable."
Mr Thomson said the tender evaluation team ruled out the two tenders "for good reason".
"The rationales on both cases were due to the inability to effectively maintain traffic in two lanes in both directions past the site during the works," he said.
"Secondly, the tenderers didn't instil confidence around a number of risks to cost and schedule.
"The highest ranked tenderer for non-price who has been put forward for council to approve tonight certainly gave the tender evaluation team confidence around cost, schedule, managing risk and the traffic constraints for the community."
The Roads to Recovery funding program was recently doubled to $1 billion and aims to help local councils maintain their road infrastructure.
Newcastle MP Sharon Claydon said the area was a "beautiful" part of Newcastle that was well utilised.
"The Albanese Labor government is proud to be a major partner in this important restoration project, which will facilitate greater accessibility and improve safety for Novocastrians on a beloved section of our coastline," Ms Claydon said.
Pedestrians are advised to use the footpath on the eastern side of Memorial Drive during the construction phase.
