Mayhem predicted for The Square
Businesspeople are predicting chaotic scenes on the roads around The Square if controversial layout changes in central Palmerston North get the green light.
Other aspects of the plan, however, seem to have found favour.
The city council plans a $26.6 million central city streetscape upgrade starting on The Square’s east side, between The Plaza and Broadway, reducing the number of car parks and turning them from angle parks to face straight on to the kerb.
This week the council abandoned plans to trial the layout because it posed too many practical difficulties and disruption to make it seem real. Instead, City Networks general manager Ray Swadel will get an independent safety auditor to work with staff to test the theory in a desktop exercise.
At Thanks clothes store, manager Visal Nhem said he liked the overall concept of creating more places to sit outside and more greenery around the street. ‘‘The only downfall could be the rightangle parking. I wonder if it could work with angle parking.’’
Jeweller Ross Hyde said he welcomed the plans to beautify the area and provide more foliage and seats. But his biggest concern was the 90-degree parking, which he said was a problem even in supermarket car parks. ‘‘Combine that with the increase in bus traffic and I’m struggling to see the logic. Along with the controlled intersections, I’m concerned about safety.’’
Hyde said while the Cuba St/ Taonui St/george St intersection treatment with no give way signs had worked, that did not provide confidence that it would suit a much busier part of the city.
‘‘You can’t compare Cuba St with this area. To say people will be careful, I do not think is responsible.’’
Landlord and businessman Steve Williams said there were considerable concerns about the interaction between people backing out of 90-degree parks and increasing numbers of buses.
He said mayor Grant Smith’s earlier call for a trial was ‘‘wellintended’’, but was never going to work in practice. ‘‘The officers are right about that. It would have been a Clayton’s trial. Until they do everything, like the removal of the median and the increased number of buses, they are not going to really see the impact, and then it’s done.’’
Williams said the key problem was with the bus routes. ‘‘Quite frankly, buses should not be going around The Square. I would not want to make cyclists the reason they should not do this, but they won’t have a chance.’’
Williams said he did not feel confident a desk-top exercise to evaluate the safety of the layout would produce reliable results either.
Several retailers were reluctant to comment, but Facebook commentators were not, and were overwhelmingly opposed to the changes. Sophie Cattle said she thought 90-degree parks would be harder to get in and out of in town with the traffic. Leon Williams agreed: ‘‘What a stupid idea. People have enough trouble getting into and out of angled parking as it is.’’