New-look street takes shape ahead of ‘peoplefriendly’ trial
The paint, bench seats and planter boxes are in ahead of a 10-week trial making Christchurch’s inner city Gloucester St more “people-friendly”.
Blocks of gold and burnt orangecoloured paint adorn the street, some with stencils of native Nikau palms to tie in with the palm trees outside Cathedral Junction.
Most of the work, which has created some delays and confusion for commuters since it started last month, is expected to finish on Friday and the street fully open by next Wednesday.
The speed limit will reduce to 10kph during the trial of the new design, aimed to make the street a more inviting space for hospitality, theatre-goers and visitors.
Central ward councillor Jake McLellan said he was “looking forward” to the makeover’s completion.
“It looks really nice. It’ll create a big visual impact when it’s finished and New Regent St is so popular, so this is just going to extend that. “I think we would be silly to only leave it there for a few months after all the drama that came with it. The work can hold up for a few years and the government has helped fund it.”
The Gloucester St makeover was meant to begin earlier this year, but was put on hold after concerns about the initial one-way plan for the road.
In September, councillors moved a motion to continue the work, but with a two-way traffic design, which McLellan told The Pressfelt like a “blindside”.
He believed former chief executive Dawn Baxendale, who abruptly resigned last month, made the further decision to scrap a plan to make eastbound traffic give way to westbound traffic near the Colombo St intersection. “We had already compromised by putting in the two-way.”
The council chose the 240-metre stretch, home to Isaac Theatre Royal and Tūranga library, as it connects Te Pae, New Regent St and Cathedral Square and will become the home pavement for the new Court Theatre in May.
The $1.4m budget for the work includes the cost of reverting the street if the council opts in June not to make the changes permanent. Waka Kotahi funded 90% of the project through their Streets for People programme.
“With the ongoing development of the Performing Arts Precinct and surrounding areas, this project gives the people of Christchurch an opportunity to imagine a different use for a street at the heart of our city at low-risk to ratepayers,” said city council transport planning and delivery manager Jacob Bradbury.
The council would monitor traffic and be “watching to see how people move through and use the area” to see what worked.
Once the trial was up and running, the public could provide feedback to the council ahead of the June decision.
Commuters could see more road cones in future, though, as due to the makeover being a “trial” there were allowances “for changes to continue being made throughout”, Bradbury said.
Affected by the new layout is Fable Hotels and Resorts on Gloucester St.
Concierge supervisor Lynsey Sum said the biggest annoyance of the roadworks had been the temporary one-way system, with buses coming through with their customers. “You can’t really tell where people are meant to cross, because the tram still cuts straight across the road. I don’t think it will annoy me as much as it would if it was one way ... I get it, like, it’s people friendly,” she said.