The Cardiff Streetscape Master Plan details improvements to Main Road and Kelton, Veronica, Harrison and Marianne streets.

The council adopted the plan in 2011 after then Charlestown MP Andrew Cornwell secured $2.5 million for the project from the state government.

The work is to be carried out in two stages.

The first will involve the town centre's above-ground electrical network moved underground, while new benches, bike racks and bus stops will be built in the second stage.

The entire project is expected to be finished within the first half of 2015, with future works earmarked for when more funding is unlocked.

For Cardiff business owner Max McCorkell, who owns 4 Your Home in Harrison Street, the town centre upgrade is bittersweet.

The upgrade will stop two shops away from his.

"It's a 1930s town trying to live in the 21st century, so the upgrade is good in that respect," Mr McCorkell said.

"But my business won't benefit from the upgrade, which is a shame."

Originally, the council had planned to upgrade more streets in Cardiff, but scaled those plans back to include only the area zoned as urban centre - a move, Mr McCorkell says, that has left Cardiff with a "bare essentials upgrade".

However, a council spokesperson said it was hoped these works would spur others in the future, which would be funded privately or through additional government funding.