Feeling blue over traffic circles
The sudden appearance of colourful circles along Dunedin’s main shopping streets has left some seeing red.
About 450 circles were painted along George and Princes streets from Sunday night as part of a range of temporary measures approved by the Dunedin City Council in response to Covid-19.
The measures include lowering the speed limit from 30kmh to 10kmh, adding free parking, letting shops expand onto footpaths, and installing temporary speed humps and circles to remind road users of shared spaces.
But Councillor Jules Radich, who could not take part in a council meeting last week due to his investment in a George St mall, said the move ‘‘does not stand-up to scrutiny’’.
He feared it was a ‘‘pedestrianisation by stealth’’, and described the recent temporary closure of the Octagon as being disastrous for some retailers.
At Friday’s Dunedin City Council planning and design committee meeting, Cr Jim O’Malley said it was not pedestrianisation by stealth, but the council responding to a serious public health issue.
Cr Lee Vandervis said the proposal was driven by businesses potentially having to expand onto the city’s narrow pavements, which would force pedestrians onto the road.
Mayor Aaron Hawkins said: ‘‘If we do nothing, and businesses fail, we will be blamed for not trying hard enough.
‘‘If we do this, and businesses fail, this action will be blamed. If people get sick, and we do nothing, it will be our fault.’’
While such responses would be ‘‘inevitable’’, the council needed to weigh up the pros and cons of the move, he said.
Council infrastructure services general manager Simon Drew said the circles on the road, along with stencils of pedestrians, were visual cues to help remind motorists they were in a shared space.
The circles were temporary, he said.