Bridge St concept signed off
A “transformational” redesign of Bridge St will keep the central Nelson thoroughfare at two lanes.
The Nelson City Council signed off on its preferred concept for the major infrastructure project at a meeting yesterday afternoon – with the key choice being between keeping it two lanes or changing it to a one-way street.
The decision is part of the council’s Bridge to Better project, which will upgrade water supply, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure to enable inner city apartment developments in the area, as well as reducing the flooding of Wakatu Square car park during king tides.
Once the underground work is complete, the council plans to make Bridge St and Haven Rd “a people-focused corridor, with more green places, more places to socialise, a more sustainable commercial environment and more transport choices”, the council said at the start of community engagement in September.
The Government has committed $36.4 million from the Infrastructure Acceleration Fund, and the council has committed $32m to the “Bridge to Better” project.
The council’s budget is proposed to increase to $42.4m in the draft long-term plan, which is currently out for public feedback.
The extra funding is to cover greater increases in materials, resourcing, construction costs and risk mitigation.
At yesterday’s meeting councillors debated whether to change the road to one lane, which would have required the loss of about 55 car parks, or to keep it at two lanes with the loss of 38 parking spaces.
The street currently has about 91 parks. In the report to councillors yesterday, officers advised that offset parking could be provided at Paru Paru Rd, with options ranging from $525,000 for 37 car parks, to $1.3m for 81.
The report said the key difference between the one and two-lane options was “how the traffic (motor vehicles and bicycles) moves along the street and how much space is available for other uses such as landscaping”.
“Both options include a flush [level] street with no kerbs, this allows flexibility to hold events and creates car park spaces that are more accessible for mobilityimpaired people. A flush street also has more flexibility on where people cross the road.”
At the meeting, council staff told councillors that from 64 survey responses from business owners, investors and community groups, 57% supported two lanes while 43% favoured one lane.
Mayor Nick Smith said the survey results were one of the reasons he supported two lanes for the street.
“It is absolutely critical we take the property owners and investors with us on this journey.”
He also viewed two lanes as the more “realistic option”, and the safer option, as vehicles usually drove slower in a twolane street.
Councillor Pete Rainey said he didn’t
put much weight on such a small survey, but still believed two lanes was the better option as it would better serve future projects around Bridge St.
There was always the option of changing it to one-way later, he said.
But councillor Aaron Stallard said the council had consulted on the issue already when it developed its spatial plan Te Ara ō Whakatū – the pathways of Nelson, and that document clearly showed Bridge St as one-way.
“It seems a little odd to me that in this meeting we’re suddenly voting on changing that ... if we are going to transform a two-way street into a two-way street are we really being bold?”
Deputy mayor Rohan O’Neill-Stevens said he believed both options would be transformational, but on balance he preferred one lane as it allocated more space to people.
The councillors voted eight to four in favour of a two-lane concept, which will now guide a developed design phase of the project.
Regardless of the number of lanes, all councillors were eager to get on with the project, which they said was key to revitalising the central city.
“What is exciting to me is where to from here ... Bridge to Better presents endless opportunities,” councillor James Hodgson said.
Councillor Tim Skinner called on the council to keep it “simple and modern” and to look after the businesses on the street during the process.
“As much as it’s Bridge to Better I don’t want it to become bridge to buggered.”
Design work will continue into 2025, with construction in 2026/27.