Streets Alive trials ready for roll out

After months of talking to the community and planning, the Streets Alive trials are ready to be rolled out.

Throughout March, a series of initiatives to make Gore’s streets safer, more accessible, and people-friendly will appear throughout the town. The Council will trial the initiatives for three months.

Gore District Roading Asset Manager and project lead Peter Standring said Streets Alive was all about testing new ideas to make Gore an even better place to live.

“The key to Streets Alive is that it’s a trial. Some aspects, such as street art, will be enduring. But the majority of initiatives could disappear at the end of three months, depending on the feedback we get.”

Streets Alive was to be launched at a function tomorrow (Tuesday 2.3) night. However, the move to COVID-19 Alert Level 2 has forced its cancellation.

However, the Streets Alive team will be out in the community this week. Booklets outlining the various initiatives have been dropped into letterboxes in streets where there is a partial and full temporary blockage at one end (known as pocket parks). There will also be pop up drop-in sessions on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

Mr Standring said community engagement was a major component of this project, starting last year when the Streets Alive team talked with people to determine what they wanted for their town. Six themes emerged from those conversations, and it’s these themes that have led to the initiatives.

The themes and associated initiatives are:

Safer road crossings – there will be 45 courtesy crossings, creating better opportunities for people to cross Gore wide, busy streets safer.

Easing traffic congestion and improving safety outcomes – many of the initiatives are geared towards reducing congestion and speed, so streets are safer for all road users. There will be median strips on some roads, new temporary roundabouts and pocket parks.

Connecting spaces and places – there will be tracks created through greenspaces to link through to safe crossings on the street.

Signage and wayfinding – new directional and informational signage will be placed around Gore. There will also be information created about existing and new trails

Creative street spaces – the street art around the town has added vibrancy to the town and created a popular walking trail.

A pedestrian-friendly place – working with Irk Street businesses, the team has come up with a concept to create people-friendly spaces (parklets), café style seating and landscaping to slow and reduce traffic. The road will remain two way.

Mr Standring said the Council appreciates some of the trials will be challenging for people and even frustrating.

“At first glance, people may wonder how temporarily blocking one end of Broughton and Eccles streets could help reduce speed and congestion.

“It’s important to look at the big picture – they are about calming traffic in areas where speed and traffic column are becoming an issue. Remember, this is about all road users, particularly those more vulnerable – the elderly, the very young and people with mobility impairments.”

Safety was paramount – “if any initiative proves to be unsafe for road users, then we will remove it.

“We have also been working with emergency services to ensure the new road layouts do not hamper their ability to respond quickly.”

Gore District Mayor Tracy Hicks encouraged people to provide feedback on the trials.

“This (feedback) will play a big part in the Council deciding what initiatives should become permanent, along with funding.”

Change is the one constant in life but, unfortunately, something many people struggle with, Mr Hicks said.

“I can remember when the Council proposed to remove the centre parks from Main Street, and there was some staunch opposition from within and outside of council – myself included. But look at what we have today.”

At the end of the day, these are trials and are only in place until the end of June,” Mr Hicks said.