Streets Alive - Shaping Gore's Future

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 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