As Nelson moves into Alert Level 3, Nelson City Council is working swiftly to support our economy, and our community, with changes to the city centre layout to make it a safer place to work, visit and shop.

In a Council meeting on Thursday, Councillors approved plans to install temporary changes to the city centre layout that will widen the footpaths and lower the speed limit in the inner city.

The temporary measures are the first of a two-stage project looking at further, more permanent, changes to the city centre and Council has approved the start of a public feedback process that will look at four possible options, including pedestrianising Trafalgar St.

Starting after Tuesday 28 April, the footpaths along Trafalgar Street, in the area between Halifax Street and Hardy Street, will be doubled in width to 6 metres each side using temporary markers, signage and line marking. The same treatment will be given to the footpath on the south side of Hardy Street and Bridge Street.

The inner-city speed limit will be lowered from 50km/h to 30km/h.

Nelson Mayor Rachel Reese said the temporary changes will allow pedestrians to maintain physical distancing requirements safely, and give businesses confidence that their staff and customers can interact in a manner that complies with alert level requirements and minimises risk.

Council needed to be nimble and innovative in its approach, and think about how every dollar spent could benefit the community, Mayor Reese says.

“We are looking at multiple ways to support our economy and our community as we move through the alert levels. We need to ensure our people can move around our city centre and safely access the services that are able to resume operations now, and in the near future, and we need to do it in a timely manner that delivers results.”

Parking on the amended stretch of Trafalgar Street will become parallel, and parking on Hardy and Bridge Streets will be limited to one side. The provision for mobility parks in these areas will be maintained, and Council is assessing how best to prioritise spaces for loading and food pickup and delivery.

The cost of the temporary measures is $205,000 and will be paid for using transport budget unspent due to the COVID-19 shutdown and at no extra cost to ratepayers.

Council will now be working to prepare the public feedback process for the stage two options.
These options are:

• Widening the footpath to 6 metres on both sides of Trafalgar Street in the area stretching from Halifax to Hardy Streets, and on the south side only of Hardy and Bridge Streets. Parking would become parallel on Trafalgar St, and existing parallel parking on Hardy and Bridge Streets restricted to one side.
• Widening the footpath to 8.5 metres on both sides of Trafalgar Street in the area stretching from Halifax to Hardy Streets, and 6m on the south side only of Hardy and Bridge Streets. Trafalgar Street parking is removed and existing parallel parking on Hardy and Bridge Streets restricted to one side.
• Pedestrianise Trafalgar Street between Halifax and Hardy Streets, and widen the footpath to 6m on the south side only of Hardy and Bridge Streets. Existing parallel parking on Hardy and Bridge Streets restricted to one side.
• No change. Retain temporary measures.

The options are expected to go out for public feedback in the next few weeks.

“We are at a critical time in our city’s history where the way we live and do businesses has changed dramatically. We need to carefully think about what we want our city centre to look like in the future and how it will best serve our changing needs, and move to implement those ideas at pace,” says Mayor Reese.

Council has spoken with Uniquely Nelson about the changes and will be working with them to collect feedback from local retailers.

Uniquely Nelson’s Simon Duffy said; “We are fully supportive of temporary traffic measures that provide a safer shopping experience in beautiful Nelson City. Over the coming months, locals supporting locals by shopping in the city centre will be the best way we can show kindness to our city businesses and help them recover.”

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