Editorial: These streets are made for walking

Shoppers and people doing business can now take a walk on the mild side of High Street in central Auckland. Photo / Supplied

Editorial

EDITORIAL

Sometimes, change can sneak up and pleasantly surprise.

Take a walk along once excruciatingly narrow Auckland's High St and you'll find the block from Shortland St to Vulcan Lane has been transformed. A boardwalk on the west side extends the footpath over what used to be car parks, with planter boxes along the outer edge. On the east side, some loading zone parks have been retained, but there's no other parking, and there is a new bike stand and more planters.

It's phase one of a trial. In February, the wider footpath will be extended further up the street, and there'll be more after that. When the footpath outside Cornerbar in Hotel DeBrett is widened, tables and chairs will clearly establish the changed nature of the street.

Cam Perkins, who heads up the council's City Centre Project Design team, has much bigger plans. "The rest of the street and the rest of the city," he says. And he's not joking.

The online Collins dictionary lists the word "pedestrianise" as the act of making an area intended for pedestrians, rather than vehicles. The High St changes haven't quite gone the whole hog and banned cars, which has been the sticking point for businesses along the thoroughfare for decades, afraid of losing crucial sales. But it's a big step in the right direction to making Auckland a better place to live and shop.

Hopefully, a better word can be found for "pedestrianising" too, before Perkins completes the whole city.