Stage 5: Proposed Plan

The proposed plan for public consultation is based on converting Worcester Street and the road through the Square into a one-way road from Oxford Terrace through to Colombo Street - traffic being able to travel eastwards only.

The plan of what the north-east corner will look like can be viewed and downloaded here [PDF, 602KB, free PDF reader]

An aerial photograph of what the Square currently looks like can be viewed and downloaded here [PDF, 116KB, free PDF reader]

Road Alignment in the Square

The existing kerb on the north side of the road was installed as part of the Stage 1 development. It was designed in a ‘saw-tooth’ shape as this best accommodated the buses that used to operate from this area.

The proposal is to keep this kerb on the north side of the road and build a new kerb-line on the south side that effectively parallels the north kerb. This will create a more winding road than is there at the moment.

The main advantages of doing this are:

• By making the road one-way, it does not need to be as wide as a two-way road. This means that more space in the Square can be devoted to pedestrian areas, rather than road.
• Making the road more winding rather than straight helps to encourage slower travel - a thirty kilometres per hour speed restriction is already in place.
• By keeping the north kerb where it is, there is no need to build a new north-kerb. A new kerb-line would cost up to $200,000.
• The ‘saw-tooth’ nature of the kerb-line will work very well for tour-bus, shuttle bus, taxi and private vehicle parking.

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Worcester Boulevard

By making the road one-way, from Oxford Terrace through to Colombo Street, there will be enough space available to widen the footpath on the south side of Worcester Street (Holy Grail / Regent Cinema side). The footpath can then be developed to a similar width as the rest of the Worcester Boulevard and more trees can be planted in this section. These changes will reinforce the Boulevard concept, and ensure a good visual connection of the streetscape from the Square to the Museum. This connection is broken at the moment, because of the narrow footpath on the Square end of Worcester Street.

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Area in Front of Information Centre/First Four Ships Steps

The proposal includes relocating the existing car park spaces from in front of the Information Centre (the old Post Office) and the First Four Ships steps, to a new location on the south side of the new road. There are several reasons why this is proposed.

• The area in front of the Information Centre and steps is one of the sunniest parts of the Square. As such, it would be much better suited to use as a pedestrian activity area, than car-parking.
• In the summer months, the steps are a popular seating area for pedestrians. Their enjoyment of the Square will be improved by attractive visual amenity in front of the steps, which car-parking does not provide.
• A survey of existing pedestrian movements shows that many pedestrians walking between Oxford Terrace and the Square walk behind the cars currently parked there. Removing the parking, and replacing it with a pedestrian area, removes the potential for collision between vehicle movements and pedestrians (and makes the walk more pleasant).
• Many pedestrians who cross the Square, heading for Chancery Arcade (and vice versa) usually cross diagonally behind the parked cars as it is the most direct line of travel. Removing the parked vehicles and narrowing the road considerably reduces the risk of collision to crossing pedestrians.

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Pedestrian Crossings and Car Parking

With the road narrowed, and vehicle speeds kept low, pedestrians will be at much lower risk crossing the road than they are at present. To further improve their safety, three pedestrian crossings are proposed at the roads narrowest points, which also tend to match the pedestrians’ strongest movement patterns.

As mentioned above, the plan proposes removing the P5 parking area from in front of the steps. However, all 10 parking spaces will be replaced along the southern kerb line of the new road, and an additional four will be created in front of the Tower (old Government Life) building.

A total of 7 P5 parking spaces will be removed with this plan – due 3 along Worcester Street, and 4 around the perimeter (which were set up when buses moved out).

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