This is one option GPT group development manager Steve Turner said was under consideration as the company works out when to reopen the section of Keira Street between Crown and Market streets.

The centre itself is expected to be opened in the second week of October but no date has been set.

Keira Street was scheduled to be open by October 1 but recent heavy rains have meant the road will remain closed after that date.

Mr Turner said he wanted the road reopened as soon as possible but GPT was considering a range of options, including whether to leave a section closed during the centre’s opening as a sort of pedestrian plaza.

‘‘We’re  having discussions with people about what is the right time to reopen it,’’ Mr Turner said.

‘‘We’re expecting a lot of people will want to come and  look at the centre and it will be extremely busy when we open it.

‘‘So we’re having a discussion about what would make sense with the authorities. What would be the best day to reopen the road given all of that activity around that time?

‘‘Do you go before or do you go after? It’s unlikely you’d open both on the same day.’’

Mr Turner said there was a range of other factors that needed to be in place before any reopening – including the bus infrastructure. 

‘‘It does require some co-ordination with buses – they need to know when their services will return to normal.

‘‘So there needs to be some certainty around that date. Also, we need to create new bus stops and take away old bus stops and change all the external signage.’’

The rain fell at a time when there was no surface on the road – delaying resurfacing efforts – and much of the footpath had been removed and exposed to the weather. 

‘‘If it had happened two weeks before or two weeks after, we probably could have gotten away with it,’’ he said.

‘‘But it happened, we got a 20-year record rainfall at a time when we were most vulnerable to wet weather.’’

A Roads and Maritime spokesman said officials would meet GPT on Wednesday to discuss a two-week extension of the road closure.