I recently learnt about road dieting in my Cities & Sustinability Unit, and I am ALL for it! It may be a shocking concept to those who drive, but reducing the number of roads actually reduces the amount of traffic, the congestion, the speed and the pedestrian fatality, as well as reinvigorating street scapes, and generally making a street a nicer place for people.
This video by Streetfilms is a great short film on the success of road diets, among many examples around the world.
I would personally love to see Wellington Street in my home city of Perth to have a diet, the street looks so run down and car orientated.As one of the 100's of people walking along Wellington Street daily I feel unsafe and unpleasant. As it is one of the major streets in "downtown" Perth, it is almost embarrassing that tourists to Perth have to experience such an unplesant sight.
(Image taken from mingor.net)
My suggestion is to reduce the traffic along this road, maybe even cut off the road to cars all together, and give the road back to the people. A people orientated street scape with shops and cafes and bright open public spaces that invite people to stay, and enjoy Perth would be wonderful. Wellington Street is a major access road to the major bus and train stations in Perth so one would assume that this would be a perfect excuse to create a vibrant public space.
I also think that if all cars are removed, then there is potential for a light rail, (or tram) to opperate along the street, or even bike share facilities, as a faster means of transport around the Perth CBD.
(Image taken from pta.wa.gov.au)
This image above gives an idea of the layout of the street, with Forrest Place being a major social hub of Perth, it would be great to see the Wellington Street opened up as a social strip in itself, not a slice through the city, separating the major transport hub from the central social and business district of Perth.
I will note that there is construction underway to sink the rail and bus stations to connect Northbridge, (the cultural and nightlife district) to the city, and create on top of it a new open public, business and apartment complex area. But I am yet to see Wellington Street be included in this new development, or at least in the way that I have suggested above.
Comment below if you want a road diet in your city, or what you think of my idea.
Cheers,
Em
dammit, i lost all my comments about about this, so this is my comments. IM ALL FOR MAKING THE CARS GONE ON THE STREETS, tho i probably will have lots of them once im a billionaire
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree with the overall concept of 'road diets' I don't think Wellington St is the place to do that. St George's Tc has been put on a diet and it looks and feels great, but I don't think we can afford to lose another major East-West connection through the city by reducing traffic on Wellington St. Riverside Drive is about to go on a diet thanks to the Waterfront development so that will be interesting to watch! (ps. keep up the great work on the blog :)
ReplyDeleteHey thanks for your comment, I don'g go down to St George's Tc often, but it's great to hear about what they have been doing there. What are your thoughts on the Waterfront development? Do you think it will be successful? I'm still unsure, I will have to do some research on it.
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