Streets Alive - Shaping Gore's Future

Thanks to everyone for their involvement in this year long project.

Streets Alive - next steps

With the Streets Alive trials over, there’s still a few initiatives we’re working on finalising. One of these is traffic flow at the intersection of Eccles Street and Main Street.

We have been trialling a left-hand turn only for traffic coming out of Eccles Street on to Main Street (SH1). It seems to be working well and we are considering making it permanent. Before we go any further though, we want to hear your thoughts.

What’s proposed

North and south-bound traffic can enter Eccles Street off Main Street, but traffic won’t be able to turnContinue reading

Streets Alive - next steps

With the Streets Alive trials over, there’s still a few initiatives we’re working on finalising. One of these is traffic flow at the intersection of Eccles Street and Main Street.

What’s proposed

North and south-bound traffic can enter Eccles Street off Main Street, but traffic won’t be able to turn right when exiting Eccles Street on to Main Street.

Sound confusing? Just think about the layout at the intersection of Irk and Main Streets – this would be the same.

Why change

Safety and traffic congestion are the main reasons for the proposed layout change.

If you think there’s been an increase in the traffic on the Main Street recently, you’re right.

Waka Kotahi NZTA figures show that between May 2020 and April 2021 there was a 54% increase in traffic along this section of state highway.

This increase in traffic means a right hand turn out of Eccles Street takes a lot longer. This adds to congestion and is dangerous as impatient drivers take their chances may be when they shouldn’t.

Another benefit of this proposed new layout is a reduction in traffic on Eccles Street, as anyone want to head south has to use an alternative route.

Share your thoughts

Let us know what you think about the proposed change. You can click on this link to go to the forum below titled Eccles Street Intersection, email streetsalive@goredc.govt.nz or drop a letter into our main office.

Feedback is open until Friday 8 October.

Our Streets Alive trials have come to an end. We will be releasing the results of our various residents surveys and updating other useful information over the next week or so.

The Business Survey has been completed and published.

We have been talking to people who have been directly affected by initiatives outside their school or business. Here's what they had to say:

West Gore School principal Linda Fraser: “The intersection outside our school (Robertson St/Kitchener St) is a real hazard. The Streets Alive trials slowed down traffic and there were a lot fewer vehicles, which was really good.”

St James Theatre Manager Paul McPhail: The pocket parks in Irk Street have been a revelation. They were utilised a lot during the three months. The trials have added colour and slowed down traffic in the street.

Guthrie Bowron Gore Manager David Broome: Over the last 28 years we have witnessed countless incidents and accidents at this "Stop" sign controlled intersection at Irwell and Fairfield Streets. With the introduction of the roundabout we have immediately observed slower traffic speed, which has dramatically improved safety.

St Peter’s College Principal Tara Quinney: Anything that slows down traffic, especially at pick up and drop off times, keeps our students safe and gives our buses easy access. These have to be good things.

Streets Alive trials roll out completed

After months of talking to the community and planning, the Streets Alive trials have been rolled out.

The series of initiatives are aimed at making Gore’s streets safer, more accessible, and people-friendly. We will trial the initiatives for three months.

Some of the adjustments to our roads may impact on how you get around, while other initiatives to make our spaces more enjoyable. We’re talking about things like street art, a play trail, and wayfinding signage.

You can download maps and details about the various initiatives from this page. Please also read our FAQs. The key points to remember are:

The trials are only for three months, after which everything will be removed from the streets
The planters are to trial where a permanent solution, such as a bulbous kerb, might work
Community feedback during and at the end of the trials will influence what initiatives the Council considers to become permanent

We need your feedback

It’s really important we get your feedback on these temporary changes so we know what works well, where things could be better, or what didn’t work at all.

So make the most of Streets Alive. Be open to the opportunity of doing things a little differently for a while and future possibilities.

All our forums are now closed, but you can still contact us by emailing streetsalive@goredc.govt.nz

What is Streets Alive all about

Streets Alive is a community-driven project to create a future vision for Gore.

It's your opportunity to dream big about improvements and outcomes you want for your town.

The Council was successful in attracting $900,000 of central government funding from Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency’s innovating streets fund to undertake the Streets Alive project. We are contributing $100,000.

Themes

Six themes came out of the feedback we received last year. The themes and associated initiatives we are trialling are:

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

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

• 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

• Improvements to ease congestion and enhance safety - 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

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

• Connecting spaces and places to improve access for everyone - there will be tracks created through greenspaces to link through to safe crossings on the street

Thanks to everyone for their involvement in this year long project.

Councillors Give Streets Alive Trials the Go Ahead

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Streets Alive trials will get underway next month after the Gore District Council approved the activation phase of the project at its meeting today (9 February).
Gore District Council Roading Manager and Streets Alive project lead Peter Standring said the project team was looking forward to delivering initiatives identified from community workshops held last year.
“We’re excited to be trialling key interventions and activities, and getting feedback from the community on their success or otherwise.”
The trial initiatives link back to the six themes that came out of the community workshops. The themes were:
• Creative street spaces
• Consideration of a pedestrian-friendly area
• Easing congestion and enhancing safety
• Opportunities for safer road crossings and connecting spaces and wayfinding.
• Connecting spaces and places
• Wayfinding
The trials will start in March and run for three months.
Street art will be the first activity to be rolled out under the Streets Alive banner. Eleven street artists will be in Gore in late February to paint vibrant street art on the blank walls of selected commercial buildings. The murals will form an art walking trail.
“We’ve had some incredible support from commercial property owners and are grateful they’ve made their properties available,” Mr Standring said.
Other Streets Alive initiatives include roading adjustments to ease congestion and improve safety such as courtesy crossings, signage and information boards, parklets and landscaping.
There will also be five pocket parks where one end of a street is partially or fully temporarily blocked to through traffic.
A key feature of Streets Alive has been the community `co-design’ of the project and the flexibility to incorporate community feedback throughout the development stage.
“Our close relationship with the community will be maintained throughout the trial. We will be seeking feedback on whether people think a specific initiative is working or not, or what could be different.
“In streets where residents may be more closely impacted by an initiative, we will be letting them know in advance about the trial specific to their area so they are aware of what’s coming,” Mr Standring said.
From late March people will be able to provide feedback through the project page on Let’s Talk, through a survey, and at caravan drop-in sessions that will be held close to trial locations.
It was important to remember these are trials for three months, Mr Standring said.
“This is a fantastic opportunity for Gore to test out changes that potentially could make the town more people-friendly, safer and more accessible for everyone, now and in the future - no matter how people get around.
“All we ask is for people to have an open mind, be patient and recognise the possibilities.”
The Council secured $900,000 funding from NZTA’s Innovative Streets programme for Streets Alive, with another $100,000 contributed by Council.
Preparation for trials continues - community feedback vital

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Work to finalise the Streets Alive trials - initiatives aimed at making Gore’s streets safer, more accessible for everyone and the town more people-friendly – is continuing apace behind the scenes.
Gore district Roading Asset Manager and Project Lead Peter Standring said the team has been working really hard to line up projects across the town.
“We are looking at trialling adjustments to a few key roads to calm traffic and improve safety for everyone.”
“On some roads we will look to make crossing the traffic safer by introducing pavement marking and planters to narrow the travelling carriageway. This will not only reduce the crossing distance for pedestrians and cyclists but also lower the average traffic speeds.”
“We’ll also be organising more creative interventions such as street art, a play trial area and pocket parks – spaces in urban areas where people can sit and relax, or children can enjoy an activity such as hopscotch.”
The Streets Alive trials will begin being rolled out in March 2021. Community engagement in the latter half of this year gave the team six key themes to work with.
“This is a great opportunity for the Gore community to trial adjustments to our roading network and other lively community initiatives aimed at improving our quality of life.”
“The important word to remember here is `trial’. The initiatives are three-month trials.
Community feedback will determine whether the initiatives become long-term,” Mr Standring said.
The success of this project is dependent on the community’s feedback.
“Over the past few months we’ve been talking with community representatives about some of the planned initiatives and getting their initial feedback. We’ve been really encouraged by what people are telling us while establishing this project,” Mr Standring said.
Detailed information about the proposed trials will be publicised in late February and early March to let the community know what’s happening before the trials get underway.
“Alongside the community feedback we will be monitoring the initiatives to measure how effective and efficient they are, before any long-term change and investment decisions are made,” he said.
Streets Alive trials to start in the New Year

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Trials of initiatives as part of the Streets Alive project will start being rolled out in early 2021.
Launched earlier this year with $900,000 funding from Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency, Streets Alive is a community driven project focusing on making Gore safer, more accessible and more people-friendly for everyone to move around, and to increase the town’s vibrancy.
Trial projects will be assembled from six key themes that emerged from community engagement on the project:
- Improvements to ease congestion and improve safety outcomes
- Signage and wayfinding
- Safer road crossings
- A pedestrianised hub
- Creative street spaces
- Connecting spaces and places around Gore for walking and cycling.
The Gore District Council is finalising the specific trial projects over the coming weeks and will be talking with any stakeholders who could be closely impacted before trials are announced.
Roading Asset Manager and project lead Peter Standring said the Council will be letting the wider community know what the trials will be and where they will take place beforehand.
“It’s important everyone knows what is going on and understands the potential community benefits that each trial will bring.”
“As part of the trials we will be monitoring and ensuring the measures undertaken will be effective and efficient before a long-term change and investment decision is made,” he said.
The Council applied for money from NZTA’s Innovative Streets funding to trial streetscape improvements in May this year, receiving $900,000 towards the project.
The Streets Alive project builds on the foundations laid by the Gore Streetscape Strategy - an overarching document for managing Council’s urban road reserves.
Streets Alive project funding will not be allocated to the river track, which is part of the Longford Shared Path project. There is a separate budget for the Longford Shared Path (bridge and river track) of $4 million. The estimated cost of the river track is no more than $200,000.
However, there are synergies between the two projects. A key theme of the Streets Alive project is to connect spaces and places around Gore for walking and cycling.
To gather the community’s views on the outcomes it wants for Gore, the Council ran a series of community conversations including sector workshops with parents with young children, youth, elderly and business as well as four other community workshops. Public drop-ins were held in mid-September. People could also give feedback online through the Council’s Let’s Talk Kōrero Mai website.
“We’ve been really encouraged by the feedback from the Gore community on this project. We look forward to putting some ideas into action to make our town safer, more accessible, vibrant and people-friendly,” Mr Standring said.
Community Conversations to Hit the Streets

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Get along and share your ideas about Gore’s streetscapes at Streets Alive public drop-ins being held from mid-September.
Streets Alive is a community-driven project focusing on exploring ways we could make Gore an even better place to live.
“The public drop-in sessions will be another great opportunity for people to tell us what they’d like for Gore’s streets,” says deputy mayor and project champion, Bronwyn Reid.
The Streets Alive team will be out and about in the Streets Alive caravan hearing what locals want for their town’s streetscapes and exploring the early themes coming through from community conversations. The caravan will be at locations in central Gore and at the Gore Multisport Complex (see details below).
Based on early community feedback, six themes have been developed as a base for further conversations.
They are:
• Creative street spaces (art, seating, planting, fountains, lighting)
• Improvements to ease congestion and enhance safety.
• Opportunities for safer road crossings.
• Consideration of a pedestrianised hub.
• Connecting spaces and places to improve access for everyone.
• Signage and wayfinding.
“These are all topics that came through strongly in our first round of engagement. We’re therefore keen to explore them further, while also taking on board any other ideas people have,” Cr Reid says.
“We’d love to talk to as many people as possible at the drop-ins, so do come along and share your ideas.”
People can also get involved with the project online at Let's Talk Korero Mai.
“This website is another fantastic opportunity for people to participate anytime in conversations about our streets, share conversations with others, add their comments and put forward ideas,” says Cr Reid.
Around 60 people attended three Streets Alive community workshops in late July. Further workshops to gather feedback from sectors such as youth, older people, people with mobility impairments and young mums are being held next week. A session is also planned with the business community.
Feedback will influence a programme of alterations to Gore’s streetscapes that will be trialled from late spring. Modifications will be designed to make the town more people-friendly, more accessible, safer for everyone, and more vibrant.
The Streets Alive team will then be asking for further community input on the streetscape trials to determine if any suggested changes become permanent.
Public drop-in sessions:
• Wednesday 16 September 2.00pm - 4.00pm at the New World Car Park, Irk St
• Friday 18 September 10.00am -12 noon at the Mitre 10 carpark, Irwell St
• Saturday 19 September 10.00 am – 12 noon in Main St, and 2.00pm – 4.00pm at the Gore Multisport Complex