Support for turning Auckland's Queen St into a pedestrian mall2:31 PM Wednesday Mar 16, 2011

Outside the Whitcoulls flagship store on Queen Street. Photo / Dean Purcell

Two-thirds of 323 Aucklanders surveyed support turning busy Queen St into a pedestrian mall.

Sixty four per cent wanted more pedestrian access to Queen St, with either no traffic at all or shared by pedestrians and vehicles with business in the area, such as delivery vans.

UMR Research said 33 per cent of those wanted Queen St closed to all traffic and made into a pedestrian mall, 31 per cent preferred a shared zone and 32 per cent wanted to keep the street as it is.

Research director Gavin White said support for changing Queen St was solid across all demographics, including residence, gender and income, although it was stronger among 45-59-year-olds, with 72 per cent wanting some change and over 60-year-olds, with 69 per cent wanting change.

He said the Auckland response showed the passion of people who wanted a change in Queen St.

"It says a lot about the general dissatisfaction about how Queen St is at the moment.

The survey, done last month, was part of a nationwide survey of 1000 people on a range of questions although the Queen St questions were restricted to Auckland participants.

The margin of error for the Auckland part was plus or minus 5.5 per cent.

- NZPA

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10712844

Making Queen St a pedestrian mall won't fix tired old hick town look

By Brian Rudman9:30 AM Monday Feb 14, 2011

We need better shop verandas and input from property moguls and their tenants.

Plans to turn Queen St into a booming retail space won't necessarily draw the shopping crowd as much work still needs to be done to make it look less like the centre of a tired, provincial town. Photo / Richard Robinson

It seems like only yesterday that the ever-suffering ratepayers of the old Auckland City bowed to the wishes of the city planners and the Queen St shop-keepers and paid out $43.5 million to tart up what was once dubbed the Golden Mile.

Out went the old volcanic-coloured paving slabs and in went the grim Chinese granite replacements. Footpaths were widened, nikau palms planted and there was much back-slapping and self-congratulating all round. Now, just three years on, the planners have had another rush of blood to the head and are softening us up for Plan B. They want to turn some or all of Queen St into a pedestrian mall - some time in the next 20 years.

I say softened us up, because it was hardly coincidence that a year ago, the Danish urban design crusader for ridding city streets of cars, Jan Gehl, was commissioned to prepare a report on how it could be done, this following much publicised sorties to places like Melbourne and New York's Times Square.

The latest proposal is all part of the orgy of master planning and visioning that's going on within the bowels of the new Super City, as bureaucrats and politicians jostle - not just to demonstrate they're doing something, but also to try to get their personal hobby-horses near the top of the pile.

Back in the dark ages, Queen St was indeed the premier shopping street in the region, probably in the country. It was so busy when I was a kid that the city council painted white lines down the centre of the footpaths to ensure people kept to the left, and patrolling policemen - remember them? - ordered gossiping shoppers who were cluttering the streets outside the main department stores to move along.

Aucklanders' shopping habits have moved on since then and it's hard to see that opening up the main thoroughfare to pedestrians will alter 50 years of history and bring customers flooding back to the CBD. Particularly if it includes the planners' latest fad which has shoppers dicing with death and "sharing" the space with buses and cars.

Apparently it will relax us, make us sit down and watch the rest of the world go by. That sort of thing. Reading the draft report, I couldn't help thinking, aren't we already spending untold tens of millions on flossing up Queens Wharf for the same purpose, to say nothing of the $80 million gone on the remodelling of Aotea Square?

Surely what Queen St needs to turn itself into a world-class shopping street is not another injection of public money on another infrastructural makeover. What might help is more input from the building owners and their merchant tenants.

The wide new footpaths are fine - though a white line up the middle to encourage people to keep to the left would help. And with all the traffic-slowing crossings and lights now installed, it's hardly a busy road any more.

What I said at the end of the $43.5 million makeover still holds true. Much of Queen St looks like the main street of a tired old provincial town, slowly dying since the state highway through town got bypassed.

The dream of shoppers promenading up the centre of the street ignores the unpalatable truth that, in summer, the hot sun makes Auckland melanoma central and throughout the year, the risks of cloudbursts are ever present. Which brings me to my hobby-horse. Shop verandas.

The BNZ headquarters did destroy the art deco attractions of the Jean Batten Building but it did show other building owners what a functional, attractive, well-lit, pedestrian-friendly veranda looks like.

Recent "tropical" downpours were a reminder to those of us who work in the CBD how colander-like much of Queen St's shelter is. Much of it is old and dirty with leaks down light fittings and between ill-matched neighbours.

The council sets the mood, with no cover for anyone wanting to visit the Town Hall, the city administration building or the Aotea Centre on foot.

We were told three years ago that the $43.5 million makeover was what was needed to make Queen St into a world-class destination. It didn't, and nor will pedestrianising it at great public expense. What might is a bit more input from the property moguls and their tenants.

By Brian Rudman | Email Brian

Comments:

1. Matt (Henderson) 02:47 PM Monday, 14 Feb 2011

Brian you are completely wide of the mark with this, since the upgrade Queen St is a much nicer place and there are far more people walking and shopping in the area. It is also no surprise that since the upgrade and numerous high class brands have opened shops on the street where as in the past they would have gone elsewhere like Newmarket.

This is most noticeable at the northern end where the street is flatter and is closer to the transport links and it is this kind of thing that indicates that the retailers are doing well.

There are now something like 50,000 people walking up and down the street per day yet all those people are confined to two small footpaths. By comparison we have 4 lanes of traffic for the less than 10,000 cars that use the road daily. I don't think the road should necessarily be completely pedestrianised but the dominance of the car needs to be scaled back.

I think a good solution would be to reduce Queen St to 1 lane each way with the remaining lanes left for buses only (although we will need some quieter and less polluting buses for this).

I do agree about the canopys though, they need to be replaced.

2. Nick R (New Zealand) 02:47 PM Monday, 14 Feb 2011

Brian, a Louis Vitton boutique now occupies a shopfront that previously housed a two dollar shop. If that isn't evidence of the makeover helping Queen St become a world-class destination I don't know what is!

3. gerard rooijakkers (Rotorua) 02:47 PM Monday, 14 Feb 2011

The best way forward with Queen Street is ridding all cars/trucks/buses and bring down trams (modern or classic or even a mishmash) through the middle of Queen Street as part of a new circular public transport route connecting the most frequented outings. And please add some more greenery and flowers to this place, QS is duller than a game of cricket.

4. Matt (Henderson) 02:47 PM Monday, 14 Feb 2011

Another way to think about things is, what need is there to be able to drive up or down Queen St? There are no driveways or car parks that access the street, there is no where that can't be reached easier by using other streets in the city (like Albert St). It seems to me the only things that the road is actually needed for is buses or delivery vehicles and both of those can be worked around.

5. DBD (New Zealand) 02:47 PM Monday, 14 Feb 2011

I've only been in Auckland for a few years. Are you telling me they paid $43 million for doing up Queen St? I think it's the worst, boring place in the country. Thank God it wasn't my rates that went into it. I don't know if anything can be done to make the centre of Auckland look nice. There are some beutiful spots to shop around the suburbs but I avoid the centre city at all costs.

6. Arch (Mt Wellington) 02:48 PM Monday, 14 Feb 2011

Rudman excels himself in this nifty summary.

I liked the phrase "to demonstrate they're doing something". The driving force behind many of Auckland City's "capital projects" seems to be a need to justify budgets, salaries, offices, consultants, meetings, new computers, training seminars, fact-finding trips, ever-higher academic qualifications, kudos-stuffed CVs, and attitudes of mind that would destroy any business that had to compete in the marketplace.

7. John--b (New Zealand) 02:48 PM Monday, 14 Feb 2011

The idea of making Queen Street into a pedestrian friendly area is both overdue and welcomed. It may well be just what the City needs to break away from a rather dull stretch of retail.

The funny thing is that it already had a great pedestrian only zone outside the old Post Office/downtown area, but was demolished for the ugly purpose of building a bus station - read diesel fumes and traffic congestion.

Britomart is a mess with the ACC/developer stamp all over it. It really is a wasted opputunity.

The idea of creating a inner city mall are is a good one; Pleasing everyone with an idea like this is not so easy.

8. Victoria Beck (Parnell) 02:48 PM Monday, 14 Feb 2011

Totally agree. Once weekend shopping, mothers working and glittering suburban malls/franchised shops increased, fun on late nights in main streets died. I've walked the Queen St/Parnell/Newmarket route daily over the past seven years and have saw the rate at which some shops opened/closed.

Very hard for smaller retailers to make much profit after rents/costs. Cheap overseas fares means bigger "spenders" do much of their's overseas. There is little variety/choice locally.

Dozens of overseas tourists tell me they don't see Auckland as much of a city, more as just another town: a gateway to our pristine beauty spots.However, I'm told that some brands like Vuitton/Gucci are cheaper here than elsewhere, at least for those from the Asian region, which is probably why their outlets don't do too badly.

The drains, pollution and filth were awful up to a couple of years ago, but they've improved but IMO not sufficiently to justify the big blow-out. It's yet another example of NZ champagne living on our beer budget which is decreasing further with fewer taxpayers and more beneficiaries, many of whom live inner-city, paid for by WINZ/housing corp.

9. Malcolm D (New Zealand) 02:53 PM Monday, 14 Feb 2011

It is refreshing to see someone calling Auckland CBD for what it is. A tired old town that has changed for the worse. Two recent articles called it Auckland's premier retail precinct.

I don't know what planet the writers were from. There is very little reason to go there other than Smith & Caughey, a remnant of it's former glory. This is fortunate as the council, by way of Auckland Transport, is hell bent on punishing anyone who commits the sin of coming to town by private motor vehicle.

Parking costs more than your purchases and is far from the shops so don't buy anything heavy or bulky as you will not be allowed to load it into your car. It seems that the planners only want shoppers from apartment buildings, hotels and office or university workers.

They better be careful what they wish for. Hamilton found that this punative approach to motorists caused the city centre to start to die and are now trying to reverse the rot. Personally I find it to be one of the scruffiest and uninspiring city centres I have been to and have little desire to see it again especially when one has to deal with the cost and hassle of coming by car. For me public transport is not an option.

10. BoB (New Zealand) 03:49 PM Monday, 14 Feb 2011

Agree that the Deloitte Tower verander is a good example of a light providing, people friendly design. I don't think the town hall warrants a verander as it would take away from the visual appeal of the building. Improvements to the veranders would be great to stop them being clastrophobic caves of darkness and a barrage of signs.

I think your misguided in thinking Queen St is not becoming a shopping destination if you look at the increase in foot traffic on evenings and weekends. More flagship stores are arriving there, the cheap shops and dominance of banks is disappearing.

The initially changes to Queens St were a good first step and things will keep improving with better public transport to the CBD.

Trialling pedestrianisation or reducing Queen St to buses and delivery vehicles is the way forward as the footpaths will become unpleasant from over crowding. Tourists may begin to see Auckland as a lively city to visit and not just a city to pass through.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10706140

Pedestrianise Queen Street? Hell yeah!Published: June 16, 2011

by Gareth Hughes

The Auckland Council is consulting right now on a discussion document called the City Centre Master Plan (PDF). It almost slipped under my radar but I’ve managed to draft up a quick submission to go in before the closing date – this Friday, the 17th of June.

I encourage you to make an online submission or send in an email too. This discussion document is short but it has some great ideas in it which should be encouraged.

I mainly got interested in it because of the transport aspect – the document suggests that Queen Street should be pedestrianized. It also says many of the other streets in the CBD should be made safer and more attractive for walkers and cyclists. Naturally they want to complete the CBD rail loop (who doesn’t? Apart from the Collosus of Roads that is).

Other exciting ideas include a proposal to two-way Hobson and Nelson Street (which right now are absolute wastelands for everybody not in a motor vehicle) and connect up the waterfront using a light rail system. Of course, this process has already started with the heritage trams at Wynyard Quarter.

What else is discussed that I like the sound of? More tree planting, a heritage trail, sustainability design standards for new buildings, and trying to create an amazing learning precinct.

This would be awesome and sorely needed as right now the two big universities in the CBD (AUT and University of Auckland) don’t really feel very well connected at all.

They also talk about the need to provide more facilities for families living in the city with children and better designed apartments for families. This is something I’m very conscious of, bringing up my kids in a flat in the Wellington CBD. We need more children’s playgrounds and sports fields in our city centres, as well as primary schools.

Finally, they talk about making the waterfront more accessible. They suggest there could be a continuous boulevard and cycle path from the Harbour Bridge through to Saint Heliers. This would be a great use of Tamaki Drive – an outstandingly beautiful road which right now is just dominated by heavy traffic and parking. It would have flow on effects that would increase the value of the land adjacent for business and residential development.

In general, I’m a pretty big fan of the City Centre Master Plan right now. But please do make a submission to try and make it even better! A few ideas I’ve suggested to improve it are daylighting the Horotiu Stream (imagine Queen Street with a stream down the middle – it happened in Seoul where they turned a freeway into a river) and extending the walk/cycle way on Tamaki Drive all the way out across the Harbour Bridge.

Published in Economy, Work, & Welfare | Environment & Resource Management | THE ISSUES by Gareth Hughes on Thu, June 16th, 2011

http://blog.greens.org.nz/2011/06/16/pedestrianise-queen-street-hell-yeah/

Queen Street - Let Not PedestrianisePOSTED BYADMINAT1:10 PM

Possible Queen St - http://eyeonauckland.com

Auckland Transport Blog has betten me to this post, so if you want to see a similar story check their post out too. Link at bottom of the page.

Auckland's main Street, Queen St has been the focus of some of the Auckland Transport Blogs, at a time where we are progressing through our Shared Street project, and many want to see it pedestrianised.

I do not agree.

Queen St is Auckland's main street, it is the backbone of the CBD. Pedestrianising Queen St could in-fact lead to killing the vibe as to say. It's is one of the major transport links, and is important to keep the numbers of people in the city flowing. People need transport link into and out of the city, and to move around the city, if it's not easy to flow, then people will leave. Remembering our CBD is not only retail, most of the spaces are commercial.

I believe Queen St could instead be turned into a transport corridor, not for cars, but for buses, and eventually trams. This would allow pedestrians, to rome more freely, not having to negotiate 3lanes of traffic, while buses/trams will be able to transport people around freely, without having to be stuck in traffic. Cars still have access through their main 4lane highways to the side of Queen St and buses will not need to alter their routes. In fact, there is no reason why it couldn't be initiated immediately at very little cost. So instead of pedestrianising Queen St, we should im-brase it as a transport link, just making it carless.

Some pictures as to what Queen St could look like, without the cars;

Possible Queen St - http://eyeonauckland.com

Possible Queen St - http://eyeonauckland.com

Obviously this would take a lot of work, epecially since it wasn't that long ago since Auckland City re-built Queen St. However it could be gradually done, and there isn't really anything stopping them from Banning cars today, they could immediately ban vehicles from using Queen St, put some temporary visual barriers to narrow the street to one lane per direction and let the busses go for gold. It would be similar to the way New York have gone about pedestrianising their streets.

This photo gives an example, obviously ours would still have vehicle access, and patrolled just as Grafton Bridge is.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com

In the end, all it takes is a couple of temporary barriers, they can even be our visual collapsable one we see on our roads. The deterrent for car will not be physically limiting them, but fining them 150odd when they do use it.

Making Queen St a shared space is not enough, but making Queen St fully pedestrianised is to far. We should be heading towards a Carless Queen St.

Eye of Auckland Article - http://eyeonauckland.com/2011/05/putting-the-sparkle-back-into-queen-street/

Auckland Transport Blog Article - http://transportblog.co.nz/2011/05/17/vision-of-a-pedestrianised-queen-street/

Labels:Pedestian/Walking,Public Transport

1 COMMENTS:

1.

Anonymous June 10, 2011 9:50 AM

Generally I think people who would like to see Queen St pedestrianised mean they want a carless Queen Street and are not ruling trams out.

I am European - so very much used to being around cities with trams - and I would describe a road shared by pedestrians and trams as fully pedestrianised...

http://aucklandinfrastructure.blogspot.co.nz/2011/05/queen-street-let-not-pedestrianise.html

Footsteps to successIt may sound crazy, but in Copenhagen they have taken the cars out of one street in the CBD a year over the past few decades as part of a strategy to enliven the Danish capital. It’s now one of the

most efficient, environmentally friendly cities in the world with flocks of tourists (and city

planners) visiting it each year.

Others have followed suit. Hong Kong pedestrianised its famous Sai Yeung Choi Street in 2003 and the Parisians are getting rid of cars

around the inner city canals and instead allowing only walkers and cyclists to enjoy them.

In notoriously car-jammed New York, bits of Broadway have been pedestrianised to allow the masses of people to spread out along the streets

around Times Square.

It looks like Auckland might follow suit. Banishing cars from Queen St and making it a pedestrian-only spot is part of a 20-year city

centre masterplan drafted for public release in March.

This was one of the key recommendations world renowned architect Jan Gehl gave last year in his

report on the city.

The debate now is on how to go about making Auckland more pedestrian-friendly without making it to hard for people to get in and get around.

Campaign for Better Transport’s Josh Arbury suggests pedestrianising Queen Street at all times in one go would “probably be a mistake” at this point in time.

“We probably need to give the perception of Auckland’s public transport system enough time to improve (plus obviously the system itself) before retailers would feel comfortable enough with such a

proposal.

“The last thing we would want is what happened in Onehunga where the main street was pedestrianised and it just about killed off the place before cars were allowed back in.”

He favours trialling it at weekends, potentially only weekends during summer to start with.

Arbury thinks if it works, the retailers and other important stakeholders will get onboard.

“General users of the CBD may also really enjoy how removing cars has created a massive new public space in the very heart of Auckland,” he says.

“We might see little cafés start up in temporary carts along the street, we might see markets and performers and all other kinds of people and activities using the space. At the same time, if it doesn’t

work — if people are discouraged from the city centre or if the place just feels a bit too eerily quiet without vehicles — then a cheap trial can easily be ended.”

Now permanent

Arbury says New York City’s successful partial pedestrianising of Times Square started off as a trial and has since become permanent.

Transport committee chairman Mike Lee has also floated the idea of trialling a pedestrian-only area of Queen St from Customs St to Victoria St at weekends. He feels careful planning is needed to support a

healthy, thriving retail sector.

The 20-year master plan report was released for public consultation in March. A draft master plan is expected to be released in June and a final master plan adopted by the council at the end of the year.

Soon, Aucklanders could be at least trialling an inner-city pedestrian mall, just like other famous cities around the world.

http://www.magazinestoday.co.nz/Features/Issues/Footsteps+to+success.html

Inner City VisionWritten by Katie Foley • Posted on 17/05/10 • Categorized as INfocus

All eyes are likely to be trained on the fight for Auckland’s Supercity later this year. But in Wellington a mayoral race involving dragon, property developer and former parliamentary

candidate Sir Robert Jones is taking shape. His party – Vibrant Wellington – is campaigning on a ticket of banning all vehicles from inner city streets Lambton Quay and Courtenay Place:

Wellington’s ‘Golden Mile’.

Jones envisions turning the space into a pedestrian haven, a little corner of Europe in New Zealand, with free bicycles, street markets, cafes, and fountains. It’s would-be European chic, antipodean style. Jones is not standing for mayor; instead he’s assembling a team to contest the Wellington mayoralty and council.

Opinion is divided as to the practicality of pedestrianising Wellington’s CBD. But it’s a vitally important issue for retail and other central city businesses. In Auckland, a two-year project to upgrade Queen Street was completed in 2008, under the banner of “reclaiming the city for the people”. Urban design manager at Auckland City Council, Ludo Campbell- Reid, says personally that is what he interprets as the ultimate aim of the Jones proposal.

Campbell-Reid says Queen Street was typical of New Zealand’s city high streets: dominated by the requirements of vehicles. The upgrade meant widening footpaths, more pedestrian crossings at more intuitive places, decreased waiting times at lights, decreased car turning circles, more planting, street furniture and art, better lighting, and raised median strips.

Campbell-Reid says pedestrian traffic has increased by 27 per cent on weekends and 32 per cent during the week.

Exact figures are difficult to calculate, but indications are that retail revenues are increasing. In a recession, Campbell-Reid says, this is something of a feat. High-end retailers Louis Vuitton and

Gucci have moved into retail space previously occupied by a $2 shop. Campbell-Reid says limited pedestrianisation is a future option for Queen Street.

“I would love to pedestrianise parts of Queen Street. I don’t think the whole street needs to be pedestrianised,” he says.

But the idea should not be thought of as one-size-fits-all. “Anything that starts to reclaim the city for people is an exciting thing,” he says. “There are many, many ways of doing it and there are many, many success stories around the world where it has worked.”

He says Wellington’s council has taken significant steps on behalf of Wellingtonians. “It is definitely seen as a more human city than Auckland. It is more compact, there are a lot more people living more closely to the city, to their place of work. Wellington has certainly led the way with the public realm and the money that it has put into the streets.”

But Auckland has no intention of being left behind: “We now feel we are taking on a bit of leadership in that area,” he says. Campbell-Reid says there are situations in urban design where boldness is called for, and also times where an incremental step by step approach is best.

“To come in and just pedestrianise something – that is quite a dramatic approach to take.”

Christchurch City Council Principal Advisor for Urban Design Hugh Nicholson worked at Wellington City Council for 10 years. He explains the street-level relationship between people and vehicles is a continuum with motorways at one end and full pedestrian malls at the other, “but actually most streets need to be somewhere in between that”.

“It is seldom that you need to go to the extreme of total pedestrianisation. They are only the very special streets, so often the answer is somewhere in between,” he says. One such special street is Strøget in the Danish capital, Copenhagen, which was pedestrianised in 1962.

“If you go to Copenhagen and to the main street there, which is pedestrianised, while the retailers opposed very strongly when it was pedestrianised, now if you tried to put cars back through there would have a riot,” Nicholson says. “So if it works, it is really good for business. If it doesn’t work, of course, it is disastrous.” Nicholson says personally he applauds Jones for the intent of his proposal.

“The idea of putting people at the centre of the city, it’s the core of urban design thinking around the world.”

He says a lot of the work already done in Wellington has used similar thinking, but Jones’ proposal is taking it a step further.

“Actually his step is a lot further, but they are not diametrically opposed. He is putting people back into the centre of the city in a more radical way. I think, absolutely fantastic idea: the concepts, the intention behind it. I think the mechanism he proposes is perhaps gloriously simplistic.”

A major risk of the proposal lies in losing the strength of the Wellington public transport system, which Nicholson says is among the most effective in New Zealand.

“Wellington’s public transport network is the envy of the rest of the country. Really it is very strong,” he says. “The risk with Bob’s proposal is that you cut the public transport network off at the knees; you are shooting yourself in the foot. On the other hand he has got a real point: there comes a stage when the number of buses along the Golden Mile becomes a negative factor. And while I am a tremendous supporter of public transport, at the end of the day I do think the cities

are for people – and even buses, when they start to take over the people space, that becomes a negative thing.”

With a problem identified, it is just a matter of employing some creativity to fix it, he says. “I think it is really just a matter of finding a little bit more subtlety to create the spaces for people rather than just chucking everyone else out.”

Wellington City councillor and urban development spokesman Andy Foster says Jones’ proposal poses more opportunity for disruption than it is worth.

“There are elements of Bob Jones’ idea that are already being thought about, like more activity and more people space, but others which would be highly disruptive and likely to damage the city rather than benefit it,” he says.

Foster is under the impression Jones’ proposal is responding to a perceived need that isn’t there. “At present we think the balance of pedestrians, public transport and private vehicles in Lambton Quay is about right and that an incremental approach to change is the most prudent approach in this instance. That is: change is made in response to a need for it.”

Foster cites Australian examples such as Church Street in Parramatta, Sydney and Hunter Street in Newcastle where vehicles have eventually been reintroduced to under-performing pedestrian malls. A proposal to allow buses back into Wellington pedestrian zone Manners Mall is currently before the Environment Court, the end game in a two-year public battle to save the space.

He says the Vibrant Wellington team should be under no illusions that even “relatively modest” changes like Manners Mall are subject to huge and lengthy public debate and “that would inevitably be dwarfed by the debate over pedestrianising the Golden Mile”.

Mayoral candidate Jack Yan says a mayoralty should be based on more than just one proposal. He questions the ethics of an unelected businessman bankrolling a city plan in the capital.

“It’s not about one road and that is what Bob is about. He’s about one road,” he says.

Yan is worried about the success of such a large pedestrianised space during Wellington’s colder, windier, and wetter months. “I don’t know if it is going to look that romantic and nice and warm and lovely and quaint year round,” he says.

Jones is a clever man, Yan says: “He knows how to pull the strings of some people. He knows people will say ‘hey, I look back on the last sunny day I had in Wellington, wasn’t it great’.

“People aren’t going to look back on that day that it was wet and four degrees and effing freezing walking around town.”

http://www.in-business.co.nz/inner-city-vision/

Pedestrianising Queen StreetBy admin, on January 31st, 2011

The NZ Herald (on the front page of the print version too!) has an article today on a few of the things that I mentioned in a blog post last week the new Auckland Council was thinking about

when it comes to improving Auckland’s CBD.

New Zealand’s premier retail street could be blocked to vehicles and turned into a mall in a move reminiscent of New York’s reclaiming Broadway for pedestrians.

Banishing cars from Queen St and reclaiming the inner city for pedestrians are uppermost in a 20-year city centre masterplan being drafted for public release in March.

Other ideas in the document are creating a downtown Chinatown, building public spaces over motorways and providing playgrounds for children.

As I noted last week, this is exciting stuff. Auckland’s CBD has gone through a revival over the past 10-15 years as more and more people are living there, but it still struggles to capture employment numbers and retail market share. A lot of that is because Auckland’s public transport system isn’t good enough to encourage people to use it to get to the CBD instead of driving to the shopping mall. But I think part of the reason the city centre also struggles to get people to “go in there” is

because it’s simply not a particularly inviting environment. There are a few nice areas – like around High Street and the waterfront – but many other parts are quite hostile to pedestrians and

therefore somewhat off-putting compared to the ease of the shopping mall.

I think the idea behind many of the efforts to improve the CBD is to focus on both these matters: improving the public transport system so it’s easier to get into the central city without having to

drive and also making the central city a nicer place to be once you’re there. The article continues:

The “city centre masterplan” will canvass some long-talked-about projects, such as light rail, turning Quay St into a boulevard and converting Hobson and Nelson Sts into two-way roads.

Aucklanders will also be asked for comment on the future direction of the port and creating a continuous waterfront edge, possibly from the Harbour Bridge to St Heliers.

Auckland Council’s future vision committee will consider a preliminary report on the masterplan tomorrow.

It might be well worth getting along to tomorrow’s meeting of the future vision committee to hear what the councillors have to say and how much support the masterplan gets for some of its ideas.

As I noted in my previous blog post on this plan, there are a number of similarities between many of these proposals and some suggestions that formed part of the Campaign for Better Transport’s

“next five years” presentation that I helped present in December last year to the Transport Committee. In particular is the proposal to think about pedestrianising Queen Street, which the

CBT plan thought could be best achieved by trialling closing the street off to cars on weekends and seeing how things went. The article discusses this matter:

Although the paper talks of turning some central-city streets into malls and of pedestrian improvements to Queen St, the Herald understands senior council planners are keen to turn part

or all of Queen St into a mall.

Lower Queen St is the obvious starting point, but a mall could run up to Mayoral Drive, or even as far as Karangahape Rd.

I don’t think there’s be too much gained from pedestrianising further up than Mayoral Drive, even in the long-run: as the wholly retail nature of Queen Street pretty much ends by that point.

However, between Customs Street and Mayoral Drive would be a great goal to aim for in the longer run.

The main question is probably “how do we get to that point?” One option is to do it all in one hit – close the street off permanently at some point and redo it, potentially like Queen Street in

Brisbane which is a fantastically successful pedestrianised main street. The other option might be to do things in stages: start with weekends and see how things go, perhaps move on to longer

periods during summer, perhaps turn parts of the street in shared spaces that give priority to pedestrians while retaining vehicle access. Auckland Council Transport Chairman Mike Lee is in

favour of the second of the two options – the careful step by step approach:

Transport committee chairman Mike Lee floated the idea of trialling a pedestrian-only area of Queen St from Customs St to Victoria St at weekends. Turning the whole street over to pedestrians

only was not sensible or practical, he said.

Mr Lee said there was a lot to be said for humanising the inner-city streets, but said the central business district was reasonably fragile in terms of competition from the malls and careful

planning was required to support a healthy, thriving retail sector.

A sensible approach, he said, was the work being done to create shared spaces in the central city, where pedestrians and vehicles share a road surface. Work has started on the first, in Darby St

and Fort St.

I agree with Mike Lee that we need to be careful about how we make major changes to the CBD, because it is fragile in terms of attracting shoppers and employers. I think that pedestrianising

Queen Street at all times in one go would probably be a mistake at this point in time. We probably need to give the perception of Auckland’s public transport system enough time to improve (plus obviously the system itself) before retailers would feel comfortable enough with such a proposal.

The last thing we would want is what happened in Onehunga where the main street was pedestrianised and it just about killed off the place before cars were allowed back in.

But that’s the beauty of the proposal to trial it at weekends, potentially only weekends during summer to start with. If it works and is super-popular, the retailers and other important

stakeholders will start to realise their customers are generally pedestrians rather than motorists (after all, it’s difficult to buy stuff from a car). General users of the CBD may also really enjoy how removing cars has created a massive new public space in the very heart of Auckland. We might

see little cafes start up in temporary carts along the street, we might see markets and performers and all other kinds of people and activities using the space. At the same time, if it doesn’t work – if people are discouraged from the city centre or if the place just feels a bit too eerily quiet without

vehicles – then a cheap trial can easily be ended. We might reckon that Auckland isn’t quite ready for such a thing, at least not until the CBD rail tunnel is completed. But at least we would have

given it a go.

Furthermore, New York City has shown how it’s pretty cheap, easy and reversible to pedestrianise an area – as a trial of closing off parts of Times Square (which has since become permanent) was done quickly and has become a huge success. There was no expensive repaving, no expensive

relocation of services (why is it that every time you need to repave something all the service need to be relocated?) This is shown in the image below (from the CBT’s presentation):

Wouldn’t it be nice to relax on a seat like this on Queen Street on a nice sunny summer’s

afternoon?

So overall I support the step-by-step method, although it would be great it we had full pedestrianisation as a long term goal. I wonder whether doing some temporary road closure during the Rugby World Cup might be a good opportunity to give it a first crack, followed by

weekends throughout next summer?

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Tags: Jan Gehl, NZ Herald, Pedestrians, Shared streets | Category: Planning, Walking & Cycling | 9 comments

9 comments to Pedestrianising Queen Street

Nick RFebruary 1, 2011 at 12:16 am · Reply

Lord I just hope they get some traction on this soon. There is no physical reason why there should be traffic on Queen St. No driveways, parking buildings, loading docks, gas stations, drive thrus,

nothing that is actually accessible by car.

This leave only two rationales for traffic on Queen St: either to have Queen St as a through route to be filled with traffic that has neither an origin nor destination in Queen St, or simply for the

purposes of accessing the fifty one on street carparks that are located on Queen St.

In the first case the main street of the CBD has no business being a strategic highway, especially not when there is Albert St in parallel and the five/six lane monsters of Hobson and Nelson st. In the second case, well do we really need those 51 car parks at all? We certainly don’t need a four

lane highway down the city’s premiere district to service 51 car parks.

The City is OursFebruary 1, 2011 at 12:47 am · Reply

If pedestrianization was a communicable disease we could all have this problem down our main streets.

From your correspondent in the Capital of Fools

MattFebruary 1, 2011 at 11:02 am · Reply

I am surprised that it wasn’t done in the 1970′s. All the Australian cities have successful pedestrian malls, most dating to back then, Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne (although it has trams too),

Hobart. And it works in small cities too – Devonport (the one in Tassie), Alice Springs and Rockhampton come to mind. Some of them are now smoke free too such as Queen St in Brisbane

and Elizabeth St in Hobart. Smoke free is very important. I still avoid Adelaide’s Rundle Mall when I am over there because of the tobacco stink.

Auckland’s Queen Street Mall is a no-brainer.

So from this we can extrapolate that New Zealand is 40 years behind Australia

GraemeFebruary 1, 2011 at 1:28 pm · Reply

And let’s remember cycleways.

Currently getting from the Viaduct up to the Karangahape ridge is a complete nightmare. Slow and dangerous.

I am sure pedestrians would tolerate a low speed cycleway through the mall.

Maybe with speed bumps to stop inconsiderate cyclists (which I try not to be) reaching high speeds on the downhill.

And maybe this would encourage that failed cycle hire company back into the area? I wonder what their thoughts are?

GraemeFebruary 1, 2011 at 1:31 pm · Reply

Queen St has occasionally been a pedestrian mall.

I remember back in the early 80′s it was blocked off for a while.

Does anyone know why it failed then?

Nick RFebruary 1, 2011 at 1:38 pm · Reply

I recall seeing a report on the 80s closures in the city library Auckland collection, it is probably still there.

If I remember right it wasn’t actually a failure, and the temporary week long closure during summer was hailed as a success. However it was probably the same old arguments holding it back

from becoming permanent, stuff like how cars buy things from shops and pedestrians don’t etc.

John DalleyFebruary 1, 2011 at 2:12 pm · Reply

I do think that if they do make Queen St a pedestrian Mall which i think is a good idea, then it needs some form of bus, light rail, vintage tram or some other form of low impact travel. If Queen St is a bit narrow for two way transport, then one track only might be ok. If it was bus, a one way

loop down Queen St, up Albert St and back down Wellesley St could work.

Nick RFebruary 1, 2011 at 2:39 pm · Reply

Queen St is plenty wide for two tracks/lanes. It currently has four road lanes plus up to two more of parking bays in places.

With a typical width of about 28m you could have two tram tracks up the middle and still have 11m wide footpaths on either side… or perhaps the tracks could be to one side so there is fifteen

metres width of ‘mall’ up one side.

Matt LFebruary 1, 2011 at 3:39 pm · Reply

Looks like the council has accepted the vision

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10703447

http://transportblog.co.nz/2011/01/31/pedestrianising-queen-street/

The City Centre Master PlanBy admin, on May 19th, 2011

It’s certainly a busy time at the moment for big long term planning documents in Auckland. As well as the much talked about “Auckland Spatial Plan”, Auckland Council has now released a discussion

document on a “City Centre Master Plan.”

I have talked a bit about the Master Plan in the past – when it was in its earlier stages of formulation. But it’s probably worth discussing a bit more, and encouraging people to submit on the Master Plan, now that we have a full discussion document completed. Furthermore, the vast

number of comments on a few posts I’ve written recent about pedestrians, shared spaces and the city centre would indicate to me that there’s a lot of public interest in making our city centre work

better.

Auckland Council has some great sounding big picture objectives for the city centre – to be the real heart and soul of Auckland:

As well as all the normal things that everyone tends to agree on (like better heritage protection, taking advantage of the harbour location, improving friendliness for business and so forth) it

seems to me that the fundamental change proposed by the Master Plan is that the city centre is for people.

This focus on improving the walkability of the city centre, making it a nicer place to be in as a pedestrian, rather than simply a place to pass through, it utterly critical in my opinion. As I noted a

few days back, historically we have treated pedestrians like rubbish: designing intersections in ways that are likely to kill them, banning them from easily walking between the city and the

Domain and so forth. It would seem as though the Council has finally got the message that if we want the city centre to be an attractive place for people to work, live and visit – then it needs to be

nice to walk around:

One thing the Master Plan discussion document appears to acknowledge (although it could highlight it more clearly in my opinion) is that improving the pedestrian friendliness of the city

centre will come at the cost of general vehicle capacity. To ensure the city centre has its accessibility and connectivity with the rest of Auckland maintained, let alone enhanced, it will be critical for these improvements to be matched by improving public transport. Obviously getting

the CBD Rail Tunnel built is the utterly critical factor in enabling all this change to happen.

Exciting to see both the idea of pedestrianising Queen Street and two-waying Nelson and Hobson

Streets being proposed!

While the Master Plan discussion document is full of fantastic ideas, I think perhaps where it could be improved is taking a closer look at a large number of little things that could be done to help

achieve its goals. Things like auditing all intersections to find out ways of improving life for pedestrians, or looking at temporary street closures over lunch periods or at weekends, or ways in which we can improve bus priority in the city centre to encourage people to catch public transport

rather than driving.

I suppose that I worry if we have too many big and expensive ideas nothing will actually happen for a very long time. If we want to make Auckland’s city centre a much nicer place then we need to look at what can be achieved quickly, and at relatively low cost. Is it possible to redo Hobson

and Nelson Streets without having to change around the kerb lines? If so, how much money does that save? Is it possible/desirable to pedestrianise Queen Street but not repave it for now?

I certainly know there’s always a warranted desire to do jobs “properly”, but quite frankly unless we’re all willing to pay a lot higher rates we need to look at some low-hanging fruit so that we

might actually achieve something within the next few years. After all, one could argue that re-phasing the traffic lights along Queen Street did more to improve its pedestrian friendliness than

the $40 million or so spent on repaving the street.

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Tags: Auckland Council, City Centre Master Plan, Pedestrians, Shared streets | Category: Policy | 6 comments

6 comments to The City Centre Master Plan

AriMay 19, 2011 at 8:49 am · Reply

I agree we should start on doing many little things that are easy to do and not costly, so as to gain support and acceptance to do bigger, more permanent things. So we should start with trialing

things like temporary pedestrianising a small section of Queen st for a day, then a longer section for a weekend and then consequtive weekends etc. If it blows up in our face at least we didn’t

spend millions on it. While it is a nice plan, I fear the whole collective task is too big and council too sluggish to get anything done any time soon.

o Stu DonovanMay 19, 2011 at 9:56 am · Reply

Good idea. The other thing we can try is “partial pedestrianisation” where streets are blocked at peak pedestrian hours but opened again to vehicles in the evenings. I’ve seen this in the

U.K. and it seems to work O.K. – you just have some retractable bollards connected to a timer system.

JeremyMay 19, 2011 at 12:29 pm · Reply

The Master Plan is a reference document things will evolve through due process and funding restrictions. Manukau City Centre had a similar doc and an obvious change to that was the MIT

building being built ontop of the trench.

George DMay 19, 2011 at 2:12 pm · Reply

One change I’d like to see is low-noise, low emissions buses. Buses will obviously form a large part of Auckland’s infrstructure for years to come.

However, there’s no reason they need to be as noisy and dirty as they are. Setting higher standards, which can be covered by hybrid, electric, or efficient diesel buses is something that can be done without great work. Obviously, there are plenty of older buses that would never meet this,

but as new vehicles are procured higher standards should be applied, and ancient ones phased out. More efficient and quieter vehicles usually have much lower running costs, so subsidies can

be reduced – as long as these are paid by the council the incentive isn’t really there to upgrade to vehicles that use less fuel.

This would really make a difference to the quality of the inner city. Seriously. Much more pleasant.

o George DMay 19, 2011 at 2:16 pm · Reply

Also, much more pleasant for cyclists. Anyone who has had to sit behind a bus belching toxic diesel fumes into your face will know what I mean! They’re unlikely to get to their cyclist

target without proactive measures like this one (most of which would cost little).

GWMay 19, 2011 at 3:41 pm · Reply

Great that the Council want that, but are Transport in agreement? I’ve heard that Transport sees these things as “their” roads and Council concepts of urban design and quality of life don’t factor

in their plans.

Auckland’s 1st Pedestrian Shared Space Gets Final Go-Aheadin General by Jon C — November 12, 2009 at 11:14 pm | 7 comments

Auckland city’s first shared space,

which gives priority to pedestrians, has just been given the final tick –and that’s great news.

The council’s approved the final design for the upgrade of Elliott St. Costing $7.2m, the upgrade starts

construction next June in time to be completed for the RWC (isn’t everything except electrification!).

To ensure the timeframe is met for Elliott Street, the adjacent Darby Street pedestrian mall plans have

been de-coupled and will proceed separately.

The Elliott Street design sees paving across the full width of the street and the removal of kerbing to

allow pedestrians to move more easily into and through the area. This also provides opportunities and

space for outdoor dining and a variety of other street activities, such as events.

Public feedback has meant some changes:

an additional tactile indicators to assist the visually impaired,

installation of six bollards in specific locations to protect canopies from delivery vehicles, allowing

general vehicles access to restricted loading bays (6am to 11am) Monday to Saturday, to support

local businesses, introducing loading zones on nearby Wellesley Street to support local

businesses

the removal of all the on street vehicle parking though parking for motorcycles and bicycles will be

provided for

rearrangement of the seating layout to provide more choice for users.

The final concept promises “high quality street furniture, vegetation and lighting” and –“high quality

stone paving across the full width of the road reserve on both streets.” The latter will be interesting in

view of the questionable Queen St paving and paving used in places like the Swanson St upgrade

which is already showing wear.

Only 19% of the 134 who submitted feedback to the council expressed unhappiness. Predictably

there were mainly sad sacks who think Auckland should stay as a polluted car-dominated city. They

were unhappy with the lack of vehicle access and parking available within the area and felt this would

have a negative impact on local businesses.

Others felt, the CBD had enough pedestrian priority areas already and a few respondents felt the

design was bland.

But one brave person felt the design did not go far enough and suggested the whole area should be

pedestrianised. Good on you. I want to see Queen St for pedestrians only. But this is a practical

solution and a good start.

Several expressed concern about vehicles and pedestrians sharing space while others felt the street

already operated as a shared space.

Let’s just remind ourselves of the project objectives for the upgrade of Elliott Street and Darby Street:

integrate the Elliott Street and Darby Street area into the CBD streetscape and open space

network

Provide greater pedestrian priority to the Elliott Street and Darby Street area

Create a distinctive public space and provide opportunities for the Elliott Street and Darby Street

area to be a popular destination in the CBD

Improve spaces that support business and provide for a variety of activities

Provide a high quality, attractive and durable streetscape that contributes to a sustainable and

maintainable CBD.

So far, so good. The final concept seems to tick the boxes. There’s plenty of evidence to match the

claim that, where shared space has been introduced overseas, it has been shown to improve

pedestrian safety, calm traffic, attract more people, enhance business and retail activityand

encourage diverse outdoor activity.

1. November 13, 2009 at 7:48 am

This is great news. I think the shared streets project will transform our CBD into something much

more attractive to people. Do you know what the titmeframe is for construction of the Fort st/Jean

Batten place part of the project?

2. Jon C

November 13, 2009 at 9:47 am

Stage one construction starts August next year, finishes July 2011, stage 2 finished Dec 2011

3. George Darroch

November 13, 2009 at 12:16 pm

Why does it cost $7.2 million to put paving tiles down, install some seats and bollards, and plant a few

trees?

4. Jeremy Harris

November 13, 2009 at 3:24 pm

I think all streets in the CBD except the main arterials should get the shared street treatment, along

with Manukau, Takapuna and New Lynn for starters, this can be a key for transforming the whole city,

a way for people to see how much better Auckland can be if cars are returned to a position of

balance…

5. Cambennett

November 13, 2009 at 4:28 pm

I couuldn’t agree more. Hurstmere rd in Takapuna is one that’s crying out to be a shared st.

6. Matt

November 14, 2009 at 10:06 am

George, have you ever looked at the cost of paving stones? Even ones for domestic use aren’t

particularly cheap, and these ones have to be sufficiently heavy-duty to survive regular transit by

heavy vehicles. There’s also a whole street’s worth of them to lay, plus stripping the existing road

surface back and raising the entire road area to be level with the existing footpaths.

I don’t see anything unreasonable in the price, and if anything think it’s actually quite the bargain.

There aren’t the economies-of-scale that go into normal roading, both for supply of the materials and

also for the labour. After all, the pavers are all laid by hand.

7. Joshua

November 14, 2009 at 7:51 pm

Not only that, we have to remember this is Auckland City, there are probably thousands of services

located 200mm below finished seal level that need to be lowered.

Also as Matt has stated those paving stones would need to be heavy duty on a good solid, level base

to get the appropriate strength needed.

http://www.aktnz.co.nz/2009/11/12/aucklands-1st-pedestrian-shared-space-gets-final-go-ahead/

Putting the High back into High Street Posted by Sydney

High Street must be pedestrianised.

The Auckland Council is currently converting certain downtown streets into shared spaces, which is all fair and well, but cars are still taking advantage of the situation (even in shared spaces such as Darby Street). We want the city council to convert one of our most attractive and under-utilised spaces into a pedestrian only zone. High Street is currently one of the most unattractive places for people to walk and spend time in, the pavements are barely a meter wide in some places and 90% of the street is used by trades-people and for parking.

High Street has the potential to be the most sought after street for people to mingle, shop and play in but as it stands people find it extremely uncomfortable to walk and people don’t want to hang around there. As a result the shops and restaurants are suffering.If you want to see some action, please email Shale Chambers at the Auckland Council: shale.chambers@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz Together we can make a difference.

http://eyeonauckland.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/HS2.jpg

Tags: High Street I imagine

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Author: Sydney Outspoken Urban Explorer and Design Guru.

43 Comments

Reply

busfan April 29, 2011 12:41 pm

WOW! What a difference!!!!! Why pedestrians on this street have to take their life in their hands just trying to keep to the sidewalk is beyond me. The Auckland Council needs to wake up and make this section of town more live-able and work-able. The car is king in Auckland and no where is this so evident as is on High street. A pretty shopping and eating district that could only currently be described as Elliot Street’s ugly sister.

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Kettlewatch April 29, 2011 12:45 pm

I agree busfan. Great work eyeonauckland! Send that to Len Brown this instant. To date High Street is the parking haven for tradies and the like – none of whom are spending any money in the street. I think they should close it off to the vermin we know as traffic and make this area totally pedestrianised.

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Shayno Ieradicognou April 29, 2011 3:28 pm

Totally for it. Just one of many projects needed for our CBD streets. Here’s My Wishlist.

-Boulevarding of Nelson and Hobson Streets and remodelling of their freeway interchanges,-Pedestrianisation of High, Queen and Quay Streets.-Return of the original tram network (or at least something that resembles it).-Removal of the Lower Hobson Street Viaduct and the traffic shithole before it where Sturdee Street, Customs and Fanshawe separate. It’s a visual crime.

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Nicco April 29, 2011 4:34 pm

High Street usually has more tradesmen than shoppers. You have to step onto the road to walk when the person in front of you is slow. It’s as synonymous with construction vans as it is with shopping.

How can the retailers put up with this? Oh wait, they are delusional.

AUCKLAND COUNCIL WHERE IS THE VISION?

Sydney you should ask Len Brown this question on Facebook. He usually responds.

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Goody2shoes April 30, 2011 8:45 am

Why has the council not considered this already ? I have had to walk into the road on numerous occasions because the sidewalks are way too small. Shop owners have also told me that it is only tradesmen using the space for parking. It is ridiculous. I have sent my email.

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Karumba April 30, 2011 9:02 am

Love your ideas Shayno and why oh why is one of our best streets (High Street) being neglected for hovels such as Darby Street ? It would not cost much to block the entire street off up to the exit for the parking garage on the corner of Victoria East Street. Add some flower boxes and Bob’s your Uncle.

Once money is available then they can tart High Street up even more It is Auckland’s fashion District after all.

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Gotham April 30, 2011 9:27 am

I hate High Street, it feels so claustrophobic. Vulcan Lane is my most favourite area of Auckland, no cars and a wide open space to walk.

o Reply

Shayno Ieradicognou April 30, 2011 5:04 pm

Agreed. I have a love of laneways (admittedly have lived+spent a lot of time in Melbourne), and the more for Auckland, the better. The cobbled ones that exist are rather good already, but none of the shit around the Scenes and QuBA precinct.

Cheers for the kind words Karumba, but they’re technically not my “ideas” per se .

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Nicco April 30, 2011 5:28 pm

Roukai Lane in Britomart is quite good aswell. But they have gone out of their way to make it a ‘private’ lane and you feel awkward walking through there sometimes.

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Gotham May 1, 2011 6:24 pm

@ Nicco, Roukai Lane is in my humble opinion a private bar. Why the Council has allowed them to place planters on either end is ridiculous, it blocks the access.

It is not inviting at all but it could be a great Lane, if only it is was more open to the general public.

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Hotpixel May 1, 2011 6:30 pm

Roukai Lane is nothing more than a corporate take over of a public space. Get rid of the planters and get rid of the bouncers with attitude.

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Gotham May 1, 2011 6:21 pm

Our laneways are far too sterile, we have some fantastic street artists out there, Misery will do wonders for our lanes, why they haven’t asked her for some sort of contribution is beyond me.

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Hotpixel May 1, 2011 6:33 pm

We have no proper laneways per se and any potential we have with Fort Lane is looong gone as cars will still be allowed to use the lane to get to the garages. The only way Aucklanders are going to get genuine charming laneways is to move to Melbourne – our council is just too far behind and cannot seem to make that jump to play catch-up.

Nicco May 4, 2011 5:42 pm

Fort Lane has a lot of potential. Come July/August, it’ll have atleast 2 restaurants in the Imperial Lane complex linking it to Queen Street.

James B May 5, 2011 10:18 am

I walked past here the other day and the door to the Imperial was open. That is a huge space although it doesn’t look like much at the moment.

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AbelTasman May 2, 2011 11:17 am

I agree with what is said here, High Street should not be a shared space but should be pedestrian only. High Street is very attractive with loads of character buildings, great retail offerings and has a lane feel to it. This could easily become Auckland’s premier street.

I can only hope that O’Connell Street gets the pedestrian only treatment. Imagine pedestrian lanes from Vulcan to High to O’Connell. It will be the heart of downtown Auckland.

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Geoff May 2, 2011 11:34 am

What a difference, it is like chalk and cheese I have sent my email.

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Sydney May 2, 2011 4:15 pm

I have posted a link to this page on Len Brown’s Facebook page but I have had no response from him as yet. He is a busy man so let’s give him a few days

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Matt May 2, 2011 5:36 pm

I don’t think that you will hear from Len Brown, he is too focused on other matters. Perhaps you could try the local Councillor ?

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BusFan May 3, 2011 9:33 am

Len Brown is “ignoring” the issue on purpose

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HotPixel May 3, 2011 11:18 am

I doubt if Mike Lee will be any better but it is worth a shot.

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JB May 3, 2011 9:12 pm

If we could organize to simply get High Street ‘coned off’ for a weekend, the results would surely get local retailers and services behind the cause.

**Sometimes people lack vision and one must literally give them a glimpse of the potential.**

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James B May 3, 2011 10:28 pm

I’ve just started walking on the street. It feels right somehow and I generally walk faster than the traffic anyway.

o Reply

Kettlewatch May 4, 2011 7:34 am

I wish everyone would just do the same and reclaim our streets!

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Karumba May 4, 2011 8:14 am

Me 2. I have often just walked done the middle of the street and it is very liberating. Much better than being squeezed on the pavement. I agree JB, people will love it and the retailers in the area will also see the potential.

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Gotham May 4, 2011 8:38 am

I should try the same, I am probably too law abiding but most days I just want to push people out of the way. Sandwiched between a parked car and a wall is not a pleasant outing.

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Sydney May 4, 2011 8:54 am

I have spoken to some retailers in the area and they are very keen on getting pedestrians back into the street. They do realise that cars don’t do the shopping and that High Street is in fact one big loading zone.

I have been told that there is a business association of High Street but I can’t find any details. If anybody knows how to get hold of them please let me know. Thanks.

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LucyJH May 5, 2011 11:46 am

Could you leave a space for cyclists on the road? I get fed up with the way urban designers want to cut off the whole CBD to cyclists… Is that really how we are going to achieve a high proportion of active commuters?

It’s all very well making the CBD pedestrian only when you have a reasonably compact CBD. But in Auckland the CBD is massive and it will only get bigger as we develop the viaduct. Are people really going to want to park their bike on the outskirts and spend half an hour striding from Aotea Square to Queens Wharf? Why can’t we include cycle ways

and cycle parking in our pedestrianized areas. Surely the two land uses aren’t THAT incompatible…

o Reply

AbelTasman May 5, 2011 1:48 pm

Lucy I think pedestrianised areas automatically includes cyclists. I don’t think there is one anti-cyclist sentiment on this blog.

o Reply

Gotham May 5, 2011 7:45 pm

Thought that it will be a given ? Cyclists and pedestrians have always mixed, it is cars that we don’t want

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Sydney May 5, 2011 3:25 pm

@ LucyJH … AbelTasman is correct. It is generally accepted that pedestrian only includes cyclists and this blog in particular is a huge supporter of both. One doesn’t need demarcated areas for cyclists in pedestrian only zones, cyclists weave in and out between pedestrians as they please and contribute the the buzz of the area.

Cyclists should not be excluded at all and when we talk about pedestrianisation it automatically includes cyclists.

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Sydney May 5, 2011 3:30 pm

I have often walked down the middle of the street. If you are not being pushed in between cars or into a wall, you are trampled by people. It is amazing how much better it is to walk down the centre of the street – it is a completely different feel and perspective. Try it people.

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Geoff May 5, 2011 7:51 pm

It is impossible to leave cyclists out of the equation. I don’t think that anybody here would even consider that, unless the cyclist rides like some maniac through the crowds

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AbelTasman May 6, 2011 8:03 am

There is an overwhelming amount of support for this. Can I also just say that it is very refreshing to actually read through this blog which is full of optimism – pointing out what is good and not moaning for the sake of moaning. Reading through other blogs, NZ Herald and The Aucklander leaves one feeling drained and full of pessimism. This blog makes me proud to be an Aucklander

o Reply

Sydney May 7, 2011 9:12 am

Thanks mate, that is very kind of you. There is way too much negativity in New Zealand. It is safe to say that it is probably the most pessimistic Country that I have lived in but I can also say that people are becoming more proactive and drowning out the nimby culture that is so prevalent here. Fight, fight, fight

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Patrick May 7, 2011 9:24 am

Besides High Street being pedestrianised (including cyclists ), why is it necessary for cars to access Queen Street when most vehicles either travel East to West or vice versa. If you want to head South, one can access Upper Queen Street much higher up.

Queen Street should be pedestrianised at certain points and light rail should be installed. Simple as that.

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little_miss_muffet May 7, 2011 9:41 am

I love cycling around Auckland but High Street is not a good place to cycle. I feel very unsafe there because there isn’t much room and the trucks that stop there don’t look where they are going. Cars don’t need to be there and if the retailers insist that cars are necessary for business then they are very stupid and deserve to struggle.

o Reply

HotPixel May 7, 2011 9:45 am

+1 A very valid point little_miss_muffet

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Sydney May 10, 2011 9:40 am

Still no word from Len Brown on this one, would be great to hear from him but still we wait ???

o Reply

Sportslave May 10, 2011 10:27 am

Not surprised

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TrainHugger May 13, 2011 8:05 am

I have spoken to a couple pf my mates and work colleagues and they all agree, High Street and O’Connell Street need to be pedestrianised pronto !

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Michael L May 13, 2011 8:48 am

This should have been done years ago. Place a few bollards and there you go, it will be pedestrianised.

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Norman May 13, 2011 12:31 pm

I went for a walk down High Street and there was lots of people but no space to walk comfortably. I decided stuff this and walked down the middle of the street and it was fantastic. I am more convinced than ever that High Street should be pedestrianised yesterday.