More than six months after the original completion date, and more than a year after ground was broken at the old Heritage Mall, council expects to be finished by the end of the month.

The first stage of work will mean vehicles will once again be able to drive along a stretch of High Street that has been open only to pedestrians since the late 1980s.

The project has attracted criticism from some corners of the community and central Maitland traders, largely because they say that continued construction work in the precinct has reduced foot traffic and customer numbers during the past year.

So it’s good news that council has put pressure on itself by publicly announcing the job will be done by the end of the month – weather permitting, of course.

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It’s hard to disagree with the ­comment from project manager Greg Blaze: “Everybody would like to see the completion of the project.”

No doubt traders in The Levee are chomping at the bit to see whether council’s revamped mall will draw people back into central Maitland.

But there will surely be a sigh of relief from council officials and councillors, who have had to answer continuous questions and endure a growing level of discontent with every day since the original finish date passed.

To the untrained eye, it still looks like there is quite a bit of work left to do on High Street to meet the deadline.

Fingers crossed that council’s contractors can meet their target and finally get the work finished.