Plan to reclaim Auckland's streets from cars on a 'slow slalom course'

Monday, 15 July 2019

Reclaiming Auckland streets from cars is still in the 'too hard' basket.

OPINION: A visit to Auckland by former New York City Transport commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan set the place abuzz.

Sadik-Khan had led the conversion of city streets to pedestrian spaces – most famously, the iconic Times Square.

'Your courage and creativity are breathtakingly inspiring,' Auckland Transport chairman Lester Levy told her after an address to a who's who of city movers and shakers.

A temporary public space without traffic was created at lower Queen Street plaza in 2016.

That was five years ago. So why has Sadik-Khan's inspiration not led to Auckland reclaiming a version of Times Square – or even more regular trials of streets without vehicles?

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A temporary idea is this kerbside cafe set up on council space in High Street in Auckland's CBD.

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Federal St in the CBD will be packed with live entertainment and pop-up stalls from November 11 to 12.

In November 2018, an almost euphoric meeting of the council's planning committee called for trials of 'open streets' – closures of streets to traffic for public fun.

'I don't want to see a report in a year, I'd like to look to March [2019],' chairman Chris Darby told the council's design champion Ludo Campbell-Reid.

A parklet built over two parking spaces has become permanent on Lorne Street in Auckland's CBD.

Campbell-Reid, who had introduced Sadik-Khan's inspiring 2014 address in Auckland, took up the challenge, saying he'd put together a proposal.

But eight months on, Darby sounded a tad weary when Stuff asked him why there had been no sign of progress.

'There's phenomenal public support for this, and clear political support, but the delivery of it is going on a slow slalom course,' he said.

'There's a bit of clay and concrete in upper levels of management. They have a more conservative view that is a bit out of sync.'

Campbell-Reid described the 'open streets' quandary as a question of time and money.

'They require months of planning, dedicated budget, legal permits and traffic management plans,' he said.

There was no budget to deliver the politicians' ambitions, and $600,000 had been cobbled together largely for a longer pilot scheme to restrict and perhaps end traffic through High Street in the CBD over 12 to 18 months.

In New York, Sadik-Khan had told the Auckland audience, 12 months of planning went into the six-month trial closure of Times Square, which was so successful it became permanent.

Her office invited communities across the city to submit ideas for plazas or car-free spaces in their streets, and 60 were created.

It was a movement driven by then-mayor Michael Bloomberg and launched in an election year despite political anxiety among public officials.

Red tape is an acknowledged hurdle in Auckland, where a traffic management plan can cost $8000.

Road works in the CBD along Quay Street and the rail tunnel dig along Albert Street are cited as already constraining any further closures.

The New Zealand Transport Agency is soon to unveil more flexible national guidelines to the ones followed currently by councils when a road is closed.

One model is the United Kingdom, where smaller road closures can be managed almost by a handful of volunteers with their own signage.

Auckland does have street closures for Santa Parades, local festivals, big downtown events such as Diwali and Matariki and in a very limited way for New Year's Eve.

But without dedicated funding and some can-do political push, reclaiming the streets – even for a knees-up – looks likely to stay in the too-hard basket.