Auckland Council is rolling out a number of upgrade projects through initiatives such as the City Centre Masterplan, to help create the world's most liveable city. Since 2011, new shared spaces have opened on Darby Street, Lorne Street (outside the Auckland Library), Fort Street, Jean Batten Place, Fort Lane and Totara Avenue West in New Lynn.
The Auckland Council website(external link) includes before and after shots and a detailed report on how shared spaces are performing in terms of foot traffic, vehicle speeds, customer spending and perceptions of the area.
An operational safety review of the Shared Spaces in the Auckland CBD was undertaken at the request of Auckland Transport. The review outcomes was presented at the IPENZ Transportation Group Conference 2017 (see the paper(external link) and presentation(external link)).
The aim was to review Shared Spaces with respect to their safety record and operational performance from a transportation and public perspective, and to consider how well the design elements within the spaces were performing to enable the safe and appropriate use of these areas. The Shared Spaces reviewed in this study were generally considered to be operating reasonably successfully in terms of safety and operational performance. However, excessive traffic speeds (above 22km/h) were evident at several Shared Spaces. Also, traffic volumes were considered higher than desirable (above 2,000 vehicles/day) at two Shared Spaces.
Excessive traffic speeds and volumes are a key factor adversely affecting pedestrian safety and amenity within a Shared Space. Reducing both traffic speeds and traffic volumes is important for achieving a fully successful outcome for a Shared Space. Various measures have been recommended to reduce traffic speeds and volumes within the Shared Spaces. These remedial measures would be expected to enhance safety and operational performance in the existing Shared Spaces, and should also be considered for incorporation into future Shared Spaces.
