What is the Streets for People concept?

It's a bold plan to improve the safety and comfort of cyclists and pedestrians in Richmond and Māpua.

The Richmond Streets for People project received government funding of $2.4 million while $840,000 has been earmarked for Māpua, to shape the beginnings of a network of safe walking and cycling spaces in our streets.

The two year project aimed to create and improve spaces for safer cycling on Salisbury Road, Wensley Road, Queen Street, Hill Street, Champion Road, and Aranui Road in Māpua, linking places where people live with schools, commercial centres and the wider existing network of cycle trails.

Pilot Wensley Road 30 kilometre per hour zone

We have completed the final project in our Richmond Streets for People programme by creating a safer cycling and walking network across Richmond.

This is a multi-faceted project incorporating separated cycle lanes, and a new low speed 30 kilometre an hour zone where vehicles and cyclists share the roadway.

As the Road Controlling Authority, we are introducing the 30 kilometre an hour pilot zone to provide an added layer of safety for the stretch of Wensley Road where cyclists and vehicles share the space under the new configuration.

The special speed zone can be seen on the map below and is between Heaphy and Queen Streets.

A pedestrian crossing and speed pillows have also been created in this zone. This crossing will be upgraded to a raised crossing during a full road resealing programme next year.

Legislation allows the pilot speed reduction to be in place for up to two years.

Improved safety coming to a street near you

There are lots of improvements about to happen on numerous streets across Tasman during the next 12 months or so. But what’s it all about?

We have two major government-funded programmes underway in Richmond, one in Māpua and another in Motueka, under the umbrellas of Streets for People and Transport Choices.

The Streets for People programme is 90% government funded through Waka Kotahi, while Transport Choices is 100% paid for by the Government.

The projects are designed to do different things, but with similar outputs. Transport Choices is about building climate-friendly infrastructure quickly, while Streets for People is trialling a new way of delivering projects focused on testing and adapting based on community feedback.

The work we’re doing aligns with the Government’s Emissions Reduction Plan and Road to Zero, Aotearoa’s road safety strategy where we’re working to make it safer, easier, and more attractive to walk, ride bikes or scooters and take public transport.

For example, our Streets for People programme on Salisbury Road has made trial changes so you can experience the options before we work through longer-term solutions.

We are going to be rolling out similar projects on Queen and Hill Streets, plus Champion and Wensley Roads ... and the same is happening on Aranui Road in Māpua.

For our Transport Choices projects in Richmond and Motueka, we want to work with you before we make any changes to the street to ensure what’s proposed suits your needs and that of the wider community.

Why are we doing this?

People told us they want safe and pleasant urban environments

We want to have a future in Tasman where it is safe for everyone to walk and cycle, where neighbourhoods are quiet and pleasant, and town centres encourage social interaction. In our urban areas, how we get around, and higher density living (in line with our Future Development Strategy) will help make Tasman a great place to live, work and play.

A silver lining of the lockdown experiences of 2020 and 2021 is that people were reminded of a different way to live. Across the country, people report enjoying quieter, greener neighbourhoods where they felt safe cycling and wanted to spend more time outside.

In June 2020, during COVID alert level 3, we asked the community what some of the unexpected neighbourhood benefits of the lockdown were

• 87% of respondents either agreed or strongly agreed that safer walking and cycling was an unexpected benefit.
• 90% of respondents thought it was very important or extremely important to have the ability to walk and cycle safely.
• 45% of respondents thought it was not important at all to drive up to 50km/h in their neighbourhoods.

Over the last few years, Council has also asked the community what is important to them in their neighbourhoods.

We have a clear indication from the community from these survey responses, as well as from other community consultation, that being able to walk and cycle safely and comfortably is a really important part of our future vision for Tasman towns.

How are we going to do this?

Working groups for both the Richmond and Māpua projects have been established.

These groups include representatives of schools, residents, employees of larger companies, active travel users and various transport agencies and community organisations.

These two groups will set framework before wider public input is sought.

The Streets for People project is like having a house built. The Council is effectively the architect and builder, and the working group and then the wider community are the clients who will direct the project.

When building a house, or in this case a safe cycling network, the architect needs to listen to their clients and make sure what they design will be the best fit, while considering the constraints such as budget and the site itself.

The first meetings of the working groups were very worthwhile with a broad range of issues and views brought to the table with numerous barriers and benefits identified.

How could our streets look?

There are plenty of options available, but which ones are the right ones for Richmond and Māpua?

Here's a quick look at various options on the ground in Christchurch. We could choose one of these, or a combination on various streets, or we could come up with something completely new, unique and innovative.

Walking and Cycling Strategy

Our Walking and Cycling Strategy is one of the cornerstones of our Streets for People programme.

After four years in the planning phase, and following months of consultation, public information sessions, submissions and hearings, our Walking and Cycling Strategy was adopted in May 2022.

The strategy focuses on providing residents with safer choices about how they travel, by improving walking and cycling across the urban areas of Tasman and sets a framework for the creation of a high standard of connected cycle networks in those areas.

Improvements for pedestrians will include safer crossings, particularly on busier roads and near schools.

Close to 250 submissions were received during the consultation process which led to a great deal of fine-tuning and amendments before the strategy was adopted.

Targets within the strategy try and get a much larger proportion of journeys to work and school by either walking or biking in the next 15 to 20 years.

This will not only create a safer transport environment and improve the health and wellbeing of our residents but will help reduce congestion and carbon emissions. This closely aligns with the Government’s recently released Emissions Reduction Plan.