Mayor Phil Goff says the shift to a more pedestrian-focused city centre can help Auckland get “back to the future” of high public transport usage
The metaphorical ribbon has been cut on the next stage of the Federal Street upgrade in downtown Auckland, moving the city one step closer to having a cohesive network of shared-space laneways.
The stretch of Federal Street between Mayoral Drive and Wellesley Street has been converted into a tree-lined pedestrian-friendly space as a $9 million piece of connective tissue in the circuit of laneways planned for in 2012’s City Centre Masterplan.
A delighted Mayor Phil Goff was at the spot on Monday, showing press the before and after of the street, comparing it with a photo of its past form on his phone.
What it used to be was a cramped, parking spot-lined urban byway, a dead-end for vehicles and a less than sightly shortcut for pedestrians between Vincent St and the already pedestrianised middle section of Federal St.
Goff said giving this nondescript roadway a bit of a “Parisian feel” with its outdoor seating and wide-open spaces was “part of the transformation for Auckland becoming a world-class city”.
He said moving from the city’s over-reliance on cars wasn’t a trip into untested ground, citing the first time he ever came into Queen St as a toddler.
“I would have come in by tram with my parents from Three Kings,” he said. “There were more people travelling by public transport in the early 1950s than there are now.”
He said moves towards provision of public transport and a focus on pedestrians and cyclists could help Auckland go forward by going back.
“It’s a transformation back to the future,” he said. “It’s not that radical. We’re doing what we used to do before we fell in love with the car.”
It’s a relatively small upgrade in the grand scheme of things - 100 metres of urban environment where the pedestrian shares a starring role with the car.
However, those 100 metres are each a symbol of the direction central Auckland is going in, paying up to put bikes and people on foot ahead of the car.
The construction removed 22 parking spaces in favour of street furniture and rain gardens that filter harbour-bound stormwater.
Goff said it’s a place where people “would want to linger” - hopefully not illegally in their vehicles, as he said he hoped illegal parking would not be a problem and wanted to see more powers granted by central Government to Auckland Council to deal with parking infringements.
But that’s just one more step towards a future of a pedestrianised CBD that he won’t be around to navigate towards, after October's election sees a new person take up the reins of the mayoralty.
When asked if the plans for similar work on Queen St can be expected in the near future, he said the city’s main drag would be unrecognisable in 10 years, although he won’t be here to push it along.
Nevertheless, the new section of Federal St is evidence of the slow evolution of one kind of city into another.
The upgrade was funded by the city centre targeted rate, a special levy paid for by both residential and commercial property owners in the city centre.
Steve Armitage, interim CEO of central Auckland business association Heart of the City, said the group was a long-standing supporter of targeted investment into the city centre through the city centre targeted rate, saying there is strong evidence that public space projects attract more people and investment over time.
"It’s a little hard to see just now given there are fewer people around due to the impacts of Covid, but the changes made in places such as Quay Street, Britomart, Wynyard Quarter, O’Connell Street and St Patrick's Square are positive for the city centre," he said. "People love it, and in many cases it’s encouraged further private sector investment."
However he did caution the impacts of construction can be challenging for businesses in the area, and wanted to see a focus on doing things better during the coming years of planned developments in the central city.
"Construction impacts on businesses are significant and have to be mitigated; more attention needs to be given to maintenance and enforcement of these spaces after completion; and there needs to be a better way of considering changes around access and how loading and servicing works," he said. "We have to see a 'whole of network' approach rather than street by street, project by project. These are real pain points for the city centre and need to be addressed.”
The Federal St upgrade is part of $133 million earmarked by the council to regenerate midtown - the area radiating from Aotea Square.
Council project manager Michael Brown said the area had seen a low volume of pedestrian traffic in the past, but the opening of Aotea Station (expected to become New Zealand’s busiest station) and the 21 floors of mixed use development directly above it will see a need for increased access.
Its not the only new part of the Auckland skyline looming directly over Federal St. HomeGround, the new home of the Auckland City Mission, is an 11-storey multi-use building with a public laneway that leads directly onto the new bit of street.
Brown said the planning stages of the upgrade meant looking at a number of elements that had been used in other shared spaces around the city over the past 10 years, such as in Fort St or Elliot St, such as street furniture, vegetation and cycle paths.
“All of those things individually make an improvement, but when you pull four or five together then you get more of a transformation,” he said.
Waitematā councillor Pippa Coom arrived on her bike, saying the route from the centre city southwards was now a bit more connected.
“This has always been a shortcut if you’re on a bike, and now it’s official,” she said. “This street was very unloved.”
The project was opened at dawn this morning by a mana whenua group lead by kaiarataki Graham Tipene, a Tā Moko artist who has been a consultant and artist on a number of council projects, such as the Waterview Tunnel and Auckland Library.
This section of the Federal St upgrade was put forward for public consultation all the way back in November of 2017, and 75 percent of respondents were in support of it.
The next stages are expected to develop the area between Victoria and Fanshawe streets.
