Jury out on street innovation
Pocket parks, cycle lanes and courtesy crossings are appearing all over the country – but do they work?
Dots painted on Dunedin’s George St proved to be controversial when they appeared overnight, and now have to be removed.
In Gore, concrete planters have been upended and rolled down streets, and plants have been strewn across roads.
In Mosgiel, residents renamed planters ‘‘road weed troughs’’ and signed a petition to have them removed, and in Nelson, an intersection with four stop signs confused motorists.
All over the country Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency’s $28 million Innovating Streets for People pilot fund is rolling out pocket parks, cycle lanes and courtesy crossings to help councils create more peoplefriendly spaces in towns and cities, and although some have been a success, the trials don’t always work.
That’s the whole idea. The fund allows councils to trial new traffic layouts, before spending big money to make them permanent.
Waka Kotahi urban mobility manager Kathryn King said the Innovative Streets programme aimed to make it faster and easier to transition streets to safer and more liveable spaces, using a technique called tactical urbanism.
More than 60 Innovating Streets pilots were under way around the country. But they aren’t always well received.
In Gore, where the $1 million Streets Alive project is under way, the council has twice had to call on residents to stop vandalising concrete planters on streets, and assured residents that it was working with emergency services after a street that accessed the town’s hospital was closed to traffic.
But there have also been positives – street art painted on some buildings in the central business area has been popular with residents, as has seating outside cafe´ s on Irk St.
Council roading asset manager Peter Standring said the trial had resulted in less speeding and less heavy traffic on some streets.
‘‘Has it added some vibrancy to the town centre? Yes it has. Has slowed down traffic? Yes it has. Has it made crossings safer for people to get across roads? Yes it has.
‘‘The objectives for this project were set by the community and at the end of the three-month trial we’ll take their feedback on board and go from there.’’
A Dunedin City councillor rubbished his own council after it painted dots on George St in the central city, in an attempt to promote social distancing during the Covid-19 pandemic. The NZ Transport Agency has now asked the council to remove them, but it said they will be left to fade.
It also received Innovative Streets funding for the MosgielTaieri Safer School Streets project.
But planter boxes installed in residential streets weren’t popular and after a petition was circulated, they were removed.
The project trialled crossing points and intersection improvements near schools and on routes to schools in the Mosgiel-Taieri area, and was aimed at improving safety in the area.
The NZ Transport Agency points to the Create the Vibe Thames project as a bit more of a success story.
The Thames-Coromandel District Council created a new public space by closing part of the town centre to traffic, and used seating and tables, shade, greenery, lighting, bike racks, road art and designs from Thames artists on concrete planters.
The council says the measures have created a ‘‘de facto’’ town square, and have been a success.
King said the Innovative Streets fund allowed communities across the country to be directly involved in shaping the way a project was created and delivered.
Whether any of the current trials will become permanent will depend on the feedback the respective councils get.
‘‘Now the community is getting to experience that design in real life, to see if it works and provide feedback on what they like and what they don’t.
‘‘For this process to be successful, feedback throughout the trial period is vital.’’