The city of St. John’s is putting the final phase of its Water Street construction project on hold for this year due to an apparent delay in the approval of cost-shared funding for the work.

Time is of the essence as the city has been trying to get construction of the phased project started in the spring and completed before the tourism season starts up in June.

The city says because funding has not yet been confirmed for the remaining work, it has decided to delay until the funding is approved and there is enough time to plan for an April construction start.

The city says once funding is confirmed, details for the next phase of construction—from Job’s Cove to to the Waldegrave Street intersection—will be completed in a future year under the same contract.

Four phases of water and sewer rehabilitation work on Water Street have already been completed.