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The lengthy and often controversial project to improve and upgrade Mangawhai’s main shopping street has reached its final design stage.
Kaipara District Council released the concept design for Wood Street last month showing the key elements that it says will form the permanent layout for the revitalisation of the street’s public areas, parking spaces and streetscape.
The design has been open for feedback and comments over the past few weeks, though anyone who still wishes to make a submission will need to hurry, as the final deadline is tomorrow, Tuesday, February 15.
A Council spokesperson said feedback could still be emailed after this point, but February 15 was the cutoff date for feedback to be in time for consideration by the project team handling the final design.
“The concept design for the permanent upgrade is a result of multiple community workshops, two trials, community and business feedback, vehicle data, surveys and data monitoring over the last two years,” she said.
It was back in September 2019 that the redesign was first mooted, after Mangawhai Business Association approached Council to look at the issues of high levels of traffic, congestion and pedestrian safety in and around Wood Street, all of which are magnified during the peak summer season and public holidays.
The first summer trial took place in 2019/20 and was followed by a number of co-design community workshops and consultations the following winter. An interim design was installed in December 2020, which included one-way traffic, reconfigured parking and new public spaces with planters and street artwork.
Some of the changes prompted strong feelings on social media, with a number of locals complaining, for example, that that the painted street art became dangerously slippery when wet, while others feared that feedback would not be listened to or acted upon.
However, Council said the overall design has been tweaked and changed throughout the testing period.
“This meant we continually improved key elements as we moved through the trial.”
However, when the concept design was made public last month, some residents were still unhappy, complaining about the one-way and parking layout leading to congestion and voicing concern that the raised pedestrian crossings were not visible enough to drivers.
The interim design has been 90 per cent funded by the Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport, which awarded Council $455,000 from its Innovating Streets for People programme in 2020. It will remain in place through to 2023, as Council works on the permanent layout.
The latest concept design can be seen at https://www.mangawhaicommunityplan.co.nz/uploads/Wood%20Street_%202021%20Holiday%20Billboard_%20Rev%202%20(002).pdf
