The Local - Mt Victoria
The long-awaited upgrade to Courtenay Place is due to start in the next couple of months.
It’s easy to be cynical about the Golden Mile changes that now seem to be finally actually happening.
For instance, it seems like madness to remove the bus stops outside the St James and former Reading Cinema.
Putting a cycle lane through a street mainly used by pedestrians, many of whom have had a drink or two, looks like asking for trouble.
The proposed bus and pedestrian shelters appear to be less useful than the current ones.
There’s a question mark about whether the removal of all cars from Courtenay Place during daytime hours will make the street calmer and more pleasant, or just dull and lifeless.
And there’s a real risk that around three years of construction will send even more of our hospitality and retail businesses to the wall.
The project, if it actually ever happens, will be radical, and we are taking it on trust that the transformation will be positive.
And yet, we need change to happen.
I came across some lost tourists on Wakefield Street the other day, looking for the start of a walking route that would take them through Courtenay Place.
I encouraged them instead to head for the waterfront, to walk along Oriental Bay. As I watched them disappear, I was relieved they wouldn’t get to see the sad grim state of our premier entertainment district.
As someone who walks through the area daily, I am well aware of its horrors – the slippery paving stones, the dated street art, the bad lighting.
I attended the media briefing for the Golden Mile reveal, and one comment from the Mayor did stick in my mind. Other cities – Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin – have revitalised their city centres. But Wellington still has the city centre that was cool and groovy in the 90s – more than 30 years later it’s tired and grim. It needs a rev up.
While the new design has several notable negatives it also has lots of positives, and it seems to be all we have on the table.
Time to step into the 21st century?
Jane O’Loughlin
Editor, The Local – Mt Victoria
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