Main Street bus terminal relocating to The Square due to road repairs

Published on 01 September 2026

Main Street Bus Terminal in central Palmerston North, looking along Main Street.

Palmerston North bus users will see a temporary change over the coming weeks, with all services at the Main Street Bus Terminal relocating to Te Marae o Hine – The Square from Monday 7 September.

The temporary relocation will remain in place for about four weeks while Palmerston North City Council repairs the road around the bus terminal. This is the final stage of upgrades on Main Street, following the recent footpath work around the Tryp by Wyndham Hotel and the road repairs and wastewater pipe upgrade near the bus terminal in January.

Three temporary platforms will be set up at the existing bus shelters in The Square, using the same arrangement that was in place during the previous stage of road upgrades earlier this year. InterCity bus services will be relocated to the front of the i-SITE. There will be no parking available in Te Marae o Hine – The Square during construction to make room for the temporary bus platforms.

Main Street will remain open to vehicles in both directions under a temporary traffic layout. Footpaths on Main Street will not be affected, but some parking spaces outside Downtown will be removed to allow for temporary traffic lanes around the worksite.

All nearby businesses will continue to operate.

Transport and Development Manager Tyler da Silva says the repairs involve strengthening a small part of the road approaching the bus terminal, between the Downtown car park and the terminal.

"To complete the work safely, we need to close the terminal and move bus services into The Square, just as we did earlier in the year. We know this is a significant change for passengers, so we’ll have clear signage in place at the temporary platforms."

Horizons Regional Council senior transport planner Isaac Mills says passengers can find the latest detour information on the Horizons website or by downloading the free Transit app.

"The Transit app also includes live-tracking technology, so people can see exactly when the next bus will be showing up. We know the temporary move away from the Main Street Bus Hub will be an inconvenience, but we support giving Palmerston North City Council and Fulton Hogan the space they need to deliver these important infrastructure upgrades."

Fulton Hogan will mainly work at night to complete the repairs. Some work will happen during the day, but Main Street will remain open to traffic in both directions.