Images via CC
The roll out of an ambitious plan to remake Cambridge’s streets for the people – which includes a pop-up cycleway, improvements to intersections and painted dots on the road – will start next week.
The Streets for People project will see more than 25 temporary changes made to streets around Cambridge in an effort to make them safer and easier for kids – and all residents – to walk, bike and scooter to school and around town.
The plan also includes the addition of speed cushions across the selected routes to provide safe spaces for pedestrians to cross, the improvement of many existing crossings and changes to three intersections where no-entry controls will be installed.
Community spokesperson Sarah Ulmer said the idea of the project was to trial the temporary changes in real time to see which were effective and which weren’t.
“The community has told us through the Safe Ways to School survey in 2018 that they’d really like their kids to be able to walk, bike or scoot to school – if the roads they travelled on were safer.
“We’d like to see if and how we can make some roads more people friendly by temporarily testing a range of measures that will hopefully achieve this.
“We would love all our Cambridge residents to get involved with this project so that together, we can make our streets better spaces for all road users.”
Waipā District Council group manager Dawn Inglis said some of the changes may take the community some time to become familiar with.
“We are very aware several changes will mean a significant shift in traffic movements, particularly on Wilson and Duke streets where we will be implementing a pop-up cycleway and a one-way on Duke Street around the blind corner.
“We ask that residents please keep an open mind when encountering these changes and allow time for us to make adjustments if and where needed so we can create a network that is easier and safer for all residents to use. We will be monitoring these changes closely to see if we do have any areas which require further amendment.”
Contractors will start implementing the first of the changes on Grey, Clare, Williams and Bryce street, around Cambridge Middle School, from Monday 15 February. The roll out is expected to take one month to complete.
Inglis said the changes would remain in place until the end of June. However, this was dependent on feedback from the community.
“This project is a collaborative process with residents. If we put in some changes and they are a complete flop, we’ll change them or take them away. If they’re successful and the community is happy with them, we’ll leave them in place.”
Residents will be able to provide feedback three weeks after the changes have been installed via www.streetsforpeople.nz.
