See Restoring the Golden Mile - Bus Route & Street Changes.
1. Opening Manners Mall to buses
Bus priority
The proposal ignores the already limited provisions for public transport in the draft Nguaranga to Airport corridor plan. The plan clearly states that priority will be given to public transport through this corridor. In particular it includes "dedicated bus lanes all along the route at peak morning and evening times."
This promise should be adhered to in the design. Manners Street should be closed to general traffic along its entire length.
Pedestrian space
There is a significant loss of pedestrian space with the removal of Manners Mall that should be re-established elsewhere as part of the project. Instead the proposal in its current form takes space from pedestrians and provides more space to cars.
Lower Cuba St should be turned into a mall as part of the project.
The 35 car-parks on lower Cuba St and 15 car-parks on eastern Manners St would be replaced by the 65 new car-parks on Dixon St, Victoria St, and Wakefield St, meaning there is still a gain for cars, but no loss for pedestrians.
If additional parking is absolutely required, a further 10 new car-parks could be provided at the bottom of the lower Cuba St mall. This could be similar to the parking provided on western Gray St. However, the benefits of additional parking should be seriously considered as it will only induce more traffic to the area.
Relocated bus stops
The proposed location of the bus stops at the Manners St and Cuba St intersection is inappropriate. These would be a major obstruction to pedestrian movement on what will become very narrow footpaths (3.5-4m) for such a highly used pedestrian route.
Instead, the existing Manners St, Dixon St, Cuba St, Courtenay Central, and St James bus stops should be rationalised to a new bus stop on Manners St alongside Te Aro Park.
The fewer bus stops will provide faster movement of buses. The location alongside Te Aro Park allows room for buses to pass other stopped buses. The extra room and the potential length of a bus stop at Te Aro Park also allows for different bays to be allocated to different routes, further improving the efficiency of bus movements. Allocated bays could also be implemented at the Courtenay Plc bus stop.
The Willis St bus stops should be relocated further south, to the section of Willis St between Mercer St and Manners St. Doing this will even out the spacing between bus stops after the rationalisation suggested above.
Closing Willis St
Willis St should be closed to general traffic and Victoria St should be reverted to two-way traffic. Victoria St was reduced to just one lane of southbound traffic for a very long period during the construction of the storm water culvert. This demonstrated the ability for Victoria St to be reduced in capacity without any negative long term impacts.
Traffic to/from Boulcott St that would normally use Willis St and Mercer St could be redirected to reach Victoria St via Dixon St.
The sketch below depicts this possible scenario where a dedicated busway is formed and Victoria St is reverted to two-way traffic.
- Western Dixon St is reverted to two-way traffic.
- Victoria St between Wakefield St and Manners St is reverted to two-way traffic with one lane in each direction.
- Victoria St between Hunter St and Wakefield St is reverted to two-way traffic with two southbound lanes, and one northbound lane.
Road and footpath surfaces
High quality paving should be used throughout the Golden Mile. This should be started with the reconstruction of Manners Mall.
The picture below shows an example of high quality paving on O’Connell St in Dublin, Ireland. The paving pattern is consistent, well finished, and level. The pavers provide good grip while looking good. The roadway itself is level with the kerbs on both sides at the same height. The roadway’s width is consistent; it does not fluctuate. Kerbs are straight and regular. Additional small treatments such as the metal studs are used subtly to add effect, such as increasing visibility and safety.
At present, the north side of Manners Mall is significantly lower than the south side. The reconstruction should provide a level roadway in the centre of the reserve, with the kerbs on either side sitting at equal height. The roadway should allow future conversion to light rail.
To provide a level roadway the footpath on the south side may need to angle up at a slight gradient. The footpath on the north side may need to angle down at a slight gradient and require a central drain. As new building entryways are constructed on the north side the footpath’s gradient can be adjusted and the drain removed at those sections.
Utility tunnels
A shared utility tunnel should be installed as part of the reconstruction. This would allow services to be installed and maintained without disrupting bus and pedestrian movement. It would also prevent damage to the road and footpath surfaces. Plus, it facilitates any future option of installing light rail.
The long term costs of not installing the tunnel are greater than if it is done as part of this project. The actual relocation of many existing services to the shared utility tunnel may be too costly to consider as part of the project. By installing the tunnel and having it ready, it allows such relocations to be carried out as part of any future works or when new services are being installed. Eventually the utility tunnel can be extended through the Golden Mile as other major road works are conducted.
2. Changes to Dixon, lower Cuba, Victoria, Wakefield and Mercer Streets
Dixon St should be traffic calmed. Kerb bulbs should be installed to create pedestrian space for the likes of cafe seating. The intersection with Cuba Mall should be made narrower to improve the connection between the two sections of Cuba Mall.
3. Reducing the speed limit
Reducing the speed limit is ideal, as it will produce a safer pedestrian and cycling environment. The speed limit should also be reduced on streets that intersect with the Golden Mile, in particular, the section of Victoria St between Wakefield St and Dixon St.
The speed limit should also be reduced to 30 kph on Dixon St to make it a safer and more inviting for pedestrians and cyclists.
4. Traffic lights at pedestrian crossings
Bus movements should be improved by removing the general traffic from Courtenay Plc first. However, if implemented these signals should provide priority to pedestrians during non-peak hours.
5. Other comments
The proposal appears to be independent of any serious long term plan for public transport and pedestrian movement in the city. It does not appear to consider any follow on work when the capacity of public transport needs to be increased further. This creates a risk of increased cost and disruption in the future.
The time will come when even a dedicated busway along the Golden Mile is too congested with buses to work effectively. (Some would argue we’re already near that point during peak hours.) With increased demand and density it is inevitable that Light Rail will be the solution to public transport through Wellington’s Growth Spine. Planning for this should start now to reduce future costs and risks.
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