Road safety improvements on the way for Guyton Street
Published on 01 December 2023
New roundabout to be installed at the intersection of Guyton and Wicksteed streets
Road safety improvements are on the way for central Guyton Street as part of Whanganui District Council’s Waka Kotahi-funded ‘Streets for People’ project – with new road features expected to be installed in early December before urban design work is carried out in early 2024. The new look Guyton Street will have seating, greenery, lighting and street art reflecting Whanganui’s history and culture.
The council’s general manager community property and places, Sarah O’Hagan, says it’s great news that the first physical steps towards implementation of the project will be underway very soon.
“In this first phase, the focus is on road layout changes to improve safety and reduce confusion for all road users.”
The work is scheduled for 11 and 12 December (this may change based on weather forecasts) and will be carried out overnight to minimise the impact on businesses and road users.
The first phase of changes to central Guyton Street will include:
- a new roundabout on the intersection of Wicksteed and Guyton streets to improve safety and reduce vehicle confusion
- raised pedestrian platforms on each of block of central Guyton Street to help reduce vehicle speeds and improve safety and accessibility for pedestrians and wheelchair users
- re-marking parking spaces to ensure they are consistent in size (through this car park loss will be avoided, while still adding new streetscape features)
- redesignating the loading zones as mixed-use parking spaces so that they can operate as general parking spaces at certain times of the day.
Sarah O’Hagan says businesses along Guyton Street have been advised about the upcoming changes, and for the most part have been very enthusiastic.
“Stakeholders along central Guyton Street have been advocating for safety improvements for a long time now, particularly for the Wicksteed Street intersection. So there’s actually a lot excitement about the new roundabout which will make that intersection safer and less confusing. We’ve also heard a lot of positive feedback about the fact that our new road layout involves virtually no car park loss – despite the introduction of attractive new urban design features.”
O’Hagan says there will be more changes in early 2024, with road resurfacing and the installation of new urban design features including seating, improved lighting, community art and new green spaces.
“One of the key things about this project is it’s a trial – and everything we install is designed to be semi-permanent and removable. So, if aspects of the new streetscape aren’t quite working, or we receive community feedback saying we could make improvements with certain tweaks, we’ll have the ability to make changes over the course of the trial.”
The Guyton Street revitalisation project is 90 percent funded by Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency through its ‘Streets for People’ funding programme. The programme encourages councils to work with their local communities to trial streetscape improvements, enhance safety for pedestrians and cyclists, and make streets more inviting, people-friendly spaces to visit.
For more information, visit streetsforpeople.whanganui.govt.nz