Upper Trafalgar St will be permanently pedestrian-only from October

Tuesday, 27 August 2019

No more traffic: Upper Trafalgar Street has been declared a pedestrian mall by the Nelson City Council.

Upper Trafalgar St will be turned into a pedestrian-only zone permanently in October this year.

For the past two years the street has been closed to traffic for the summer months to great success, and following the summer-only closures the Nelson City Council has declared the area a permanent pedestrian mall. The vote passed unanimously at deliberations on Tuesday.

Over 200 submissions were made on the proposal, with 87 per cent of them in favour of some kind of closure to traffic, and 65 per cent in favour of permanent year-round closure.

Just eight per cent of submissions were fully opposed to 'any type of closure'.

* Public views sought over the permanent closure of Trafalgar St in Nelson CBD

* Pedestrian-only Trafalgar St: walking in a winter wonderland?**

Rather than a winter trial, the council has opted to declare upper Trafalgar St a pedestrian-only zone.

Mayor Rachel Reese said it made sense for the council to close the street to traffic 'with such widespread community support'.

'Developing this area for pedestrians only supports our vision for a more exciting and attractive city centre all year round,' she said.

'Having areas within the city for people to congregate is important for the fabric of our community. It brings people into the heart of the city and promotes high-quality development and investment in our smart little city and the wider region.'

The next summer is expected to be much the same as previous summer closures while council staff design a more permanent pedestrian area, which would likely be implemented over the next winter period.

Council city development team leader Lisa Gibellini said that design would attempt to deal with concerns over fast-moving cyclists or e-scooter users which were raised in initial meetings and in public consultations, rather than excluding or banning cyclists or scooterists.

She said that the permanent closure would be an opportunity to develop the space more than the summer closures had.

'With the temporary or summer-closures only, it always has to be easily-removable, make-shift public space.'

She said most serious objections to the closure could be addressed by design, including concerns over mobility parking.

Emergency vehicles will have access to the pedestrian zones at all times, and service vehicles will be able to access the street between 6am and 8am for deliveries. If for some reason vehicles needed to access the area, for example for building maintenance, exemptions will be available via application to the council.

The new pedestrian mall is expected to be in place from October 18, if no appeals to Council's decision are lodged.