High Street improvements

Have your say on the planned improvements for High Street between St Asaph and Tuam Street.

Consultation has now closed

Consultation on High Street improvements has now closed. People were able to provide feedback from 10 October 2022 to 7 November 2022.

You will be able to read their feedback and the staff recommendation once an agenda is available for the Hearings Panel, we expect this to be by 23 February 2023.

Background

In 2019, the High Street Revitalisation and Tram renewal project(external link) looked at the renewal of High Street from Cashel Street to St Asaph Street . 

During public consultation, a number of concerns were raised by businesses and property owners(external link) in the block of High Street between Tuam and St Asaph streets, which resulted in the Hearings Panel deciding not to support the upgrade of the block, at that time. Instead, they requested further consultation, to determine how to make the street fit for its purpose.

Why we're doing this

Following consultation in 2019, the project team reviewed the feedback provided by the 90 submitters. 40 indicated their support, 44 indicated they did not support the plan and 6 did not clearly indicate their view. 

Of the 44 who did not support the plan, 23 commented that there should be less emphasis on cars, 25 commented that there should be more parking and of these, 19 submitted an alternative plan showing 29 car parks plus a mobility park and loading zone.

The team has revised the previous plan to address the concerns of businesses, property owners and future users so that this stretch of space can better reflect where the city is heading.

We identified the main issues with the first draft of the plan being:

• Too much emphasis on cars.
• More parking required to support businesses.
• Concerns surrounding the cycle facilities.
• Need to reflect climate change urgency.
• Impact of construction on the area and the businesses that were hit by Covid-19 and need to re-establish.

Some areas of opportunity that were found:

• Slower speed limit (10kph).
• More trees and planting.

What we're doing

We've taken the feedback received from the previous round of consultation and improved the plan so that street improvements are complementary to those on High Street from Cashel to Tuam Street.

These reconsiderations include:

• Enhancing the streetscape along the route to complement potential investment along the street e.g. in the SALT District and retail areas.
• Providing widened footpaths for improved access to the surrounding businesses, e.g. between the SALT District, Retail areas, Te Kaha and the Ara hairdressing school.
• Providing a critical missing safe cycle route between Tuam and St Asaph Streets – linking the central city cycleway networks with the Heathcote Expressway major cycle route.
• Providing a simplified intersection at High St and Tuam Street.
• Implementing a 10km/h speed limit along this section of the road.
• Making pedestrian access safer and easier between the SALT District and Retail areas.

We're proposing two options, our preferred option is to include a paved right turning lane onto St. Asaph Street in the design. This will reduce unnecessary traffic on Madras Street and eliminate illegal traffic movements across the footpath and allow cars to access the carpark on St. Asaph Street. However, this lane will require cyclists to give way to traffic.

The alternative option is to remove the right turning lane onto St. Asaph Street. This creates a clearway for cyclists heading north to Tuam Street and provides room for bike parking. Initial discussions with business owners have suggested that this option is less desirable.

View the plan here. [PDF, 1.8 MB]

Artist's impressions of High Street

View from Tuam Street

View of Madras and St. Asaph Street intersection

Main street view