Part-funding for Grey Street speed chicanes and one-way changes

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Project fitted Waka Kotahi goals to increase number of people using active and low carbon modes of transport . . .

Gisborne District Council has already agreed to part-fund a proposal to introduce speed chicanes on Grey Street and make Kahutia Street intersection there one-way, official documents show.

Billed as Tairāwhiti Adventure Trust-driven, the Grey Street “Linear Park” project, which has received funding from Waka Kotahi’s Streets for People project, extends from the Childers Road intersection to Kahutia Street, and from Kahutia Street to the i-Site .

Plans are yet to go out for public consultation.

Responding to an Official Information request from The Gisborne Herald, Waka Kotahi multimodal integration national manager Deb Hume said the Streets for People Expression of Interest (EOI) process was launched in December 2021 and was open to all local roading authorities with walking and cycling improvements already included in their current Regional Land Transport Plans (RLTPs).

Thirty councils, including Gisborne District Council (GDC), expressed their interest in participating in the programme and 15 were successful with receiving pre-implementation funding.

“While the Tairāwhiti Adventure Trust (TAT) was part of the EOI process alongside GDC, and have been included in the programme, our funding agreement for the Grey Street project is solely with GDC.

“GDC is responsible for the delivery of the Grey Street project and is providing 10 percent of the funds for the project alongside 90 percent from Waka Kotahi.

“GDC is also responsible for their arrangement with TAT.”

Documents provided to The Gisborne Herald under the Official Information Act show Waka Kotahi sees the Grey Street project as helping its goal of increasing the number of people using active and low carbon modes of transport to access and to move through the Gisborne CBD.

“This will help to normalise these modes of transport and increase mode-shift. It will also help business owners in the CBD to see the value added by a space that is more people friendly and encourages visitors to stay longer and spend money in their vicinity.”

The documents also show an Implementation Partnership Agreement was signed between Waka Kotahi and GDC on August 23, 2022, in which parties agreed Waka Kotahi would fund 90 percent of the $365,880  project, with GDC responsible for the remainder, including any overspend.

As recipient, GDC agreed to “deliver and complete the project to the high standard proposed, ensure “key milestones” were met,  and implement the monitoring and evaluation plan as well as a communications and engagement plan.

GDC was also to “ensure a senior leader/employee of the recipient will champion delivery of the pre-implementation phase, and provide Waka Kotahi with the name and contact information of this employee”.

In a subsequent email it was stated Tairāwhiti Adventure Trust was championing the project.

Another email detailed the cost breakdown of team members, including a “community champion”, with duties to be undertaken including presenting and support at a cost of $10,500 for 70 hours of associated work.

GDC community lifelines director Tim Barry said funding from Waka Kotahi included that amount to pay to people who gather data and help with the project.

“Council has not paid any money directly to TAT, who are doing this on a voluntary basis. Council has reimbursed TAT for university students they hired to gather data over the summer holidays 2022/2023, and covered travel costs for workshops that were outside the scope of their project.

Waka Kotahi informed GDC it had been successful in getting funding in August 2022.

The design features planter boxes, dual-lane cycleways and speed chicanes, planter boxes acting as traffic calming measures and changes to the Kahutia Street intersection, which would become left-turn only.

The changes are possible because, in July, the Labour Government gave councils new powers to make street changes more easily.

However, the changes do not remove a local authority’s obligation to consult with the public.

Responding to The Gisborne Herald Gisborne District Council denied it had mischaracterised the extent of its role in the project, pointing to a 2022 front page story detailing initial fundng. That story stated community groups would have a key role in the projects in partnership with Gisborne District Council.

GDC community lifelines director Tim Barry said the council funded plenty of things in the community “and that does not preclude being able to ask for community feedback”.

“Feedback from the community is an incredibly important part of any project funded by council as the projects are always for the residents.”

Mr Barry said there would be no independent hearing to assess public feedback.

Looking at roads ‘differently’

Gisborne District Council released more details about the Grey Street project in a press release yesterday.

“Next year, short-term changes will be made to Grey Street in Gisborne, and the Main Street in Uawa, to make them more vibrant and people-friendly,” the release said.

“A portion of each of these two streets will be re-designed to help improve access and connections between areas as well as make them great places where walkers, bikers, mobility scooters, cars and trucks can all co-exist.

“These two projects are led by community groups, supported by Gisborne District Council and funded through Waka Kotahi’s Streets for People programme.

“We want everyone to be able to move around safely and easily using a variety of transport options in this region.”

“Tairāwhiti Adventure Trust (TAT) led by Haimona Ngata and Amy Spence, and Hei Huarahi Oranga (Streets for People) Uawa steering group led by Bessie Macey, have been engaged as community partners for the Grey Street and Uawa projects, respectively.

“As a council, we’ve stepped back to make sure these are community-led projects.”

“It’s a vision that absolutely aligns with council’s strategic plans. We want our region to be more attractive for people to walk, ride bikes or scooters, take public transport, and improve road safety and routes to schools.

“Up the Coast, the Uawa project aims to reinvigorate the Tolaga Bay township and create a vibrant space where they can use the street with seats, table and shelters, while also making space for drivers who pass through Uawa.

“It’s expected this will be rolled out next year after the Grey St project.

“The Grey Street project starts on January 15, 2024.”

The changes would be temporary so people could “see what is possible” while feedback was collected.

“Grey Street is an area frequented by children on their way to the Skate Park, the Pump Track, the beach, or Kiwa Pools. We want streets that are inclusive for everyone, and to make sure our tamariki have a safe way to get from A to B on their bikes or scooters.”

TAT members have timed the impact these changes will have on drivers down Grey Street, and it will add 1.36 seconds to their driving time.

Other changes include the removal of angled parking on the Skate Park side as it is difficult for drivers to see what is coming from behind the car beside them when they exit these parks.

Parallel parks will replace them, and people will also be encouraged to use Kahutia Street for more parking.

The Kahutia Street/Grey Street intersection will also become a left-hand turn only, and a disabled car park will be installed outside Ocean Dental.

The temporary transformation of the street will include concrete planter boxes used as traffic calming measures, and concrete separators will run the length of the new dual-direction cycleway.

Tairāwhiti Adventure Trust chairperson Haimona Ngata says they have met with Tā Derek Lardelli who will design the artistic look of the Grey Street, Streets for People project.

Grey Street, Streets for People is an expansion of the work that has already been achieved by Tairāwhiti Adventure Trust such as the upgrade of the Skate Park to hold national skate competitions and the instalment of a world-class pump track in Alfred Cox Park.

TAT asked the community at a festival last year what they would like to see on Grey Street if they were able to create it into a safer and more vibrant space.

Following this feedback, TAT alongside GDC and Waka Kotahi worked with a safety engineer from transportation consultants MRCagney to put the feedback into a design.

Mr Ngata said there were massive issues for people in the community using alternative modes of transport not feeling safe on the roads. Speed, driver behaviour, lack of safe crossing points, not feeling confident cycling on the roads, were all contributing factors.

“This project is an opportunity for our community to look at roads differently. The child riding their bike to school and the logging truck on its way to the port are both users of the road, and both have a right to be on the road, regardless of their size or destination. Let’s make our streets safer for everyone.

“Grey Street will remain an arterial connector of the city to the sea and will be open to through traffic, but it will look and feel different and we’re encouraging drivers to slow down.

“This project will be about a transformation of Grey Street to allow our community to interact with the street better, encourage a shift in transportation away from cars and change our perceptions of how we use our streets.”

• More information about the Grey Street project including designs and plans will be available from December 1 on the council’s website, and at the Christmas Festival in Grey Street on Sunday, December 10.

• TAT will also be holding public workshops for the week starting Monday, December 4.