The works, which took about seven months to complete, have overhauled the street from a narrow road that couldn't handle buses or large vehicles, had parking on just one side and no formed footpath to a safer, smoother surface with a cycleway, shared footpath and parking on each side.

Works also included reconstruction of 400 metres of the street, significant drainage upgrades and lowering of a section of the road across the top of an old earth mould.

Related: Council to demolish homes to improve city road network

"It's like chalk and cheese," Maitland City Council engineering and design manager Kevin Stein said. "We know it's going to have a very positive impact on both road users as well as residents in the vicinity."

The upgrade was part of a larger project to improve driver access to Maitland Train Station. The wider project included improvements to the station car park and the new roundabout on Athel D'Ombrain Drive.

The road is also used as a popular alternative to enter onto the New England Highway roundabout.

As part of the project, council also used recycled materials including a crushed glass as a bedding for pipelines and a recycled road base material for the pavement.