Safer and more people-friendly streets are coming to Auckland with 13 Auckland Council group projects being confirmed for funding by Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency’s Innovating Streets Programme today.
The successful projects range from making it safer for kids in Māngere to get to school, creating new pedestrian space and cycleways in the city centre, creating low-traffic neighbourhoods in Onehunga and Papatoetoe, and creating more space for fun on Ponsonby Road.
The Innovating Streets programme supports councils with pilot funding to test new ways to create safer, healthier and more people friendly towns and cities.
Mayor Phil Goff welcomed the announcement.
“This investment will help make our streets safer and more pleasant, reduce deaths and serious injuries on our roads and create new opportunities for Aucklanders to get involved in shaping their local communities,” he says.
“The community-focused approach means that ideas can be tested and improved in response to feedback from the people who live, work and travel in these areas, including pedestrians and people on bikes, drivers, businesses and shoppers.”
The projects will use a tactical urbanism approach to make quick, low-cost, scalable improvements to create more vibrant, people-friendly spaces in our neighbourhoods. This may include the use of pop-ups like street dining and play streets or interim treatments like road art, planters, and street furniture to inform future permanent upgrades.
Chair of the Planning Committee, Chris Darby says this generous funding from the government empowers Auckland Council to take an agile approach to enlivening our streets.
“Creative ideas to provide more room for Aucklanders to move safely and enjoyably will be put to the test, and the projects that win support from our communities can be scaled up and made permanent.”
The projects will be led by Local Boards, Auckland Transport, Auckland Council or Panuku Development Auckland, and communities, schools, and local businesses will be invited to collaborate and develop ideas to create the places they would like to enjoy.
This approach to co-designing and trialling interventions with the community allows for local insight and feedback in real time so that adjustments can be made along the way.
Councillor Josephine Bartley says that the programme gives communities a chance to be involved in co-creating street design changes that deliver benefits for them.
“The programme has given our local community and local boards an opportunity to put forward for funding important projects that will help to mobilise our community. Projects like walking and cycling lanes or reallocating more street space for people, allows our community to keep connected and improve overall wellbeing”, she says.
Ideas will be developed over the coming months and the temporary changes are expected to be in place before mid-2021, with the view to becoming permanent in the long term if successful.
This is the second round of funding confirmed by Waka Kotahi. With six Auckland projects in the first round and 13 in this round, Auckland now has funding for 19 projects in total.
Auckland Innovating Streets round 2 projects (Funding confirmed 28 August 2020)
Project WAVE - A protected bike route at the bottom of Nelson Street and into the city centre. With the aim of increasing the number of people on bikes using the bottom end of Nelson Street.
Safe School Streets Mangere – This is part of the Safe and Healthy Streets South Auckland project that aims to achieve a fun, safe, healthy and well-connected Māngere and Manukau. Five Mangere schools will be involved.
Ponsonby Road
Creating a more people-friendly environment on Ponsonby Road.
Maungakiekie Tāmaki Low Traffic Neighbourhoods - Creating two Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, one in Onehunga and one in Eastview. This project aims to re-define the street network in these areas, keeping local streets for local people and creating streets where people can bike and walk without fear, loud traffic and traffic fumes.
Papatoetoe West Low Traffic Neighbourhood- Creating a low traffic neighbourhood in Papatoetoe West. With the aim of preventing rat-running through residential roads and allocating more road space to walking and cycling.
Manukau - Wiri– Safe and Healthy Streets South Auckland - The proposal builds on the multi-agency collective impact approach developed through the Safe and Healthy Streets South Auckland Programme and involves a series of co-designed temporary tactical interventions to test, trial and pilot people centred changes to streets in Manukau.
Creating Safer Streets – Britomart Tyler Street – Creating a more people friendly environment on Tyler Street.
Creating Safer Streets – Emily Place – Transforming Emily Place into a peaceful, tranquil oasis for people to enjoy by making significant changes to the way vehicles move around the site.
Make it Safe, Make it Playful and Celebrate Tāmaki – Encourage a shift to walking, cycling and public transport. Creating streets as places including play along the way and a celebration of Tāmaki’s natural landscape and unique identity.
Pukekohe – Eat Streets and Laneway Enhancements - With a view to creating more people-centred streets and inform the future streetscape upgrades of King St, Roulston St and the laneways, Panuku proposes a series of tactical interventions and temporary activities to enhance the vibrancy of Pukekohe’s town centre. At the heart of this activity will be a relocation of the Pukekohe Markets to the town square and Rouston Street.
Maximising Mangere – Time to Thrive- New pop-up bike lanes that fix gaps in the existing network, including co-design to help choose locations for pop-up cycle lanes and some activations to promote the new temporary bike lanes. Widening and painting of footpaths in strategic locations.
Glen Eden Town Centre Pop-up Cycleway: Captain Scott Road - Creating safer streets, with slower traffic on Captain Scott Road, The aim is to provide a separated bike connection to Glen Eden Intermediate and Glen Eden Primary Schools, and for residents to the town centre and train station.
Community Play Streets Pilot for Tāmaki Makaurau - Testing out play streets at several residential areas in West and South Auckland. Play streets enable neighbours to temporarily restrict traffic access to their street so the space can be opened up for play, recreation and to create a sense of community.
Auckland Innovating Streets round 1 projects (Funding confirmed 23 June 2020)
Safe School Streets Pilot - Trialling safety improvements to make the school gate a safer place. This could include parking changes, new drop off and pick up zones, new pedestrian crossings, and speed calming measures.
School Speed Reduction - Reducing the speed around several schools using temporary changes like street art and planter boxes.
School Streets Active Mode Shift - Aims to get more children walking and cycling through community bike programmes, walking school buses, and temporary school street closures.
Ratanui link, Henderson - A pop-up walking and cycling link and improved access to Henderson Train Station. This will be tested by reallocating street space in Henderson's town centre. The project aims make it more enjoyable for people living close to the town centre.
Huron and Northcroft Streetscape Improvements, Takapuna - A series of temporary changes to support better walking connections through Takapuna. Could include activating street frontages, widening footpaths and providing safer crossings.
Queen Street - Making downtown Auckland a more welcoming and attractive place for the thousands of people who live, work and shop there every day. It will also help people travel more quickly through the city by bus, on foot and by bike.
