The Local - Mt VictoriaCourtenay Place will be re-aligned to face the Embassy instead of Marjoribanks Street as part of Golden Mile changes starting in January.
It will be the first stage of a two-year project to refresh Courtenay Place, Manners Street, Willis Street and Lambton Quay.
The changes to Courtenay Place include removing private vehicles from the area during the day, widening the pedestrian areas, installing new paving stones, putting in a bike path, consolidating bus stops, and building bigger bus shelters.
While the designs are yet to be finalised and released to the public, a workshop for councillors in September gave some indications of what’s in store.
The intersection work includes changing bus lanes and pedestrian crossings to align with the future street design on Courtenay Place, installing new signalised crossings, and new wind and rain shelters and pavement upgrades.
Information provided to councillors said the work would take approximately eight months “because we must manage possible traffic congestions while Wellington Water also complete the rising main on Wakefield Street.”
The council has been talking to businesses in the area about Golden Mile changes in the pipeline. Although work could have started sooner, timing was moved out into the New Year at the request of businesses who wanted the disruptive construction work to occur after the busy Christmas period.
One new change developed since the council took over the project is the proposed removal of the existing vehicle sliplane at the Kent Terrace end of Courtenay Place.
According to advice provided to councillors, this change will create greater pedestrian space, keeps the existing public toilets in place and reduces the construction complexity.
Now that Let’s Get Wellington Moving has been dissolved, component parts of the project have been split up and distributed to the agencies involved. The Wellington City Council is leading the project to make changes to the street layout along the Golden Mile.
It’s the Courtenay Place upgrades that have proven to be most controversial, with significant changes to the way the area will be used.
Only buses will be able to use the roadway during the daytime hours of 7am to 7pm, while a new cycle path will permit bikes and scooters to access Courtenay Place
Widened footpaths will allow more outdoor dining, and new planting, tiles and outdoor lighting will improve the amenity of the area. The overall design will acknowledge mana whenua stories about the creation of te Whanganui a Tara.
It is also proposed to remove the bus stops outside the St James, and across the road at the old Reading Cinema site, to enable bus travel times to improve.
Businesses have raised a number of concerns, including loading zone access, and ensuring Uber eats driver can gain access to businesses.
Others were concerns at bikes or scooters speeding through, close to outdoor dining areas and pedestrian spaces.
Final design plans and renders will be released to the public in October.
