Government funding offered for Nelson inner-city streets project

Wednesday, 1 July 2020

Nelson City Council central city working group chairman Pete Rainey talks about the 'City Centre Streets for People' project.

A project to make Nelson's CBD a more pedestrian-friendly space has been granted up to $1m worth of funding from central government.

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency has offered Nelson City Council the funds to be used as part of council's City Centre Streets for People project.

As part of the project, four options were put before the public for consultation (which finished on June 26), including widening the footpath in the central city and closing Trafalgar St to vehicles completely.

The agency's Innovating Streets programme provides 90 per cent funding up to $1 million for projects designed to make streets safer, with more space for people, and which test temporary or semi-permanent layouts, materials and designs ahead of permanent upgrades.

Projects that received funding need to be completed by the end of June 2021.

City centre working group chairman councillor Pete Rainey said while there was general agreement on the need to improve the city centre experience, the tricky part was getting a consensus on the best solution.

Two of the options included in the City Centre Streets for People project would widen Trafalgar St, along with parts of Bridge St and Hardy St.

'We have been gifted this resource, but how, or if, we use it is up to our community. We have yet to find out which of the four options are most preferred, but this money could go toward any of the three options for change included in the survey.

'You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who doesn't want investment in the CBD … the challenge is to come up with something that has appeal.'

Rainey said the funding had been targeted more at Council Options 1 and 2, which focused on widening footpaths in the city centre to various degrees and reduced the amount of car parks.

Nelson City Council central city working group chairman Pete Rainey, left, and city centre development programme lead Alan Gray received more than 600 submissions from the public on options for changes to some inner city streets.

He said the funds would be less likely to be available in the Option 3 proposal to make Trafalgar St pedestrian-only, due to the probable scope of that project and need to go to further public consultation.

He said the funding itself would be used for temporary physical changes to the inner city, which could be removed if they were ineffective or re-used for trials in other areas.

The feedback survey received more than 600 submissions, which are now being collated and reviewed before going to a full council meeting on August 12 for consideration.

Mayor Rachel Reese said the investment was a welcome step forward in Nelson’s post-COVID-19 recovery.

“Waka Kotahi has recognised the value of the city centre project and gives us the potential to turn it into something that could benefit our community now, and in years to come, but any final decision has to be what’s right for our people and our city.'

Waka Kotahi Portfolio Manager Developing Regions Kathryn King said the Innovative Streets programme was aimed at growing national capability in ‘tactical urbanism’, which aimed to transition towards 'safer, cleaner, healthier and more equitable towns and cities'.

'Pilots, pop-ups and interim treatments help us try out street changes and gain valuable on-the-ground feedback from communities.'

City Centre Streets for People options put out for public consultation:

1. Widening the footpath to 6m on both sides of Trafalgar St between Halifax and Hardy streets as well as the sunny side of Hardy and Bridge streets between Rutherford and Collingwood streets. Parking would become parallel on Trafalgar St and the existing parallel parking on Hardy and Bridge streets would be restricted to one side. There are 134 angle car parks along that section of Trafalgar St along with 25 along the sunny side of Hardy St and 36 along the sunny side of Bridge St. Estimated cost of up to $3.1 million.

2. Widening the footpath to 8.5m on both sides of that inner section of Trafalgar St and 6m on the sunny side of Hardy and Bridge streets. Under this option, parking would be removed from Trafalgar St. Estimated cost of up to $4.7m

3. Closing Trafalgar St to vehicles, making it pedestrian only along with an extension of the footpaths on the sunny side of Hardy and Bridge streets. Estimated cost of $800,000 to $12m.

4. Status quo – no changes made.