SIX years ago, the Waterfront was a sprawling muddle of roads, roundabouts and tired-looking buildings.
Today, it’s a neat, grid-iron pattern that will soon host new developments that will adorn the site like shiny new medals.
On Friday, the roads network at the £1 billion site opened to the public for the first time, marking a major milestone for the project.
From the air, the progress is plain to see — it’s the kind of transformation the city hasn’t seen for decades.
And there is a real sense of what the future holds, with the plots that have been created on the site primed and ready to host the city’s new look.
Our timeline shows just how much the Central Waterfront has changed in the last six years.
Councillor Ken Guild, leader of Dundee City Council, hailed the progress made so far at the site.
He said: “There’s a great deal to be positive about and people are very pleased with the way it’s turning out. Within a year a lot of the hoardings will be coming down and the centre will once more be connected to the city’s Waterfront — for the first time in many years.
“It’s a tremendous achievement for Dundee and a vote of confidence from the Scottish Government, which has been so impressed that they have allocated a further £60 million to the project.”
The funding is said to have been allocated to boost the creation of jobs and to back business.
It was announced last week that the money will be available for local infrastructure and public spaces, through an initiative that combines public and private sector investment.
The Waterfront project is about half-way through its 30-year span, and there have already been some key moments.
Most notably, work got under way last year on the new V&A museum, the jewel in the crown of the redevelopment, an investment of £80 million.
Work has also started on a new railway station building.
