10.6 Priority Projects for a Programme Business Case investigation (Coded for cross-referencing with Appendix 2)

CC. Central City and North Dunedin safety and accessibility upgrade

The central city is the key area where most of Dunedin’s commercial activity occurs. It has the highest concentration of vulnerable user activity and the highest levels of conflict between different modes. The current design of the central city transport network revolves around traffic movement and vehicle speeds are higher than desirable for an area of high pedestrian activity. Consequently, most of Dunedin’s crashes occur in the central city and it is the highest risk area of the city. No major work to address issues in the central city has been carried out on an area-wide basis for some years.

There is potential for the central city to function significantly better than it does currently. Safety and accessibility could be substantially improved to create an even more vibrant, thriving central city environment. Due to the existing safety problems a project to carry out a major upgrade of the central city transport environment is considered the top priority (refer to Section 8.3 for more information).

EB. Eastern Bypass Freight Route upgrade

The ‘Eastern Bypass’ freight route consists of Strathallan Street – Portsmouth Drive – Wharf Street – Thomas Burns Street – St Andrew Street to Anzac Avenue. A project to improve this strategic freight corridor is also considered a high priority. There are two key drivers for this. Firstly, designating a priority freight route with minimal conflict with vulnerable road users enables a higher level of service to be provided for freight movement, supporting efficiency and economic wellbeing. Secondly, this also supports the central city upgrade mentioned above, as making this route more attractive for freight vehicles will reduce the number of freight vehicles using the one-way system in the central city.

This project may include:

• Changes to signal phasing to better support movement to and from Port Otago.
• Redesign of key intersections, particularly St Andrew Street – Anzac Avenue to better support movement to and from Port Otago. This could also include creating a cul de sac at the Castle Street end of Anzac Avenue to redirect freight and allow for a reallocation and redesign of space at the Railway Station Precinct (refer to p.43 for more information).
• Other options and approaches will also be considered as part of any investigation including improved access management along the corridor and consideration of whether the location of the existing level crossing at St Andrew Street is the best site or whether a better, viable alternative exists.

PH. Portobello/Harington Point Road Improvements

Completing the sea wall replacement and the associated shared cycleway/walkway along Portobello Road is also a high priority for the DCC and the community. The benefits of this project for Otago Peninsula residents and the whole Dunedin community in terms of improved safety and accessibility of a key transport and recreational corridor, as well as the potential for economic development through cycle tourism, mean that the continuation and completion of this project is a high priority.

SH. State Highway 1 (one-way pair) safety and accessibility investigation

The need for improved safety on and around State Highway 1 through the central city has also come up as a high priority. This is an important piece of work that needs to be undertaken because of the safety issues along State Highway 1, and also because of the severance created by the one-way pair in the central city area, and particularly between the central city, the tertiary area and the harbour. It is anticipated that this investigation will be a joint piece of work undertaken by the DCC and NZTA working in partnership.

MC. Mosgiel centre safety and accessibility upgrade

The need to significantly improve the safety and accessibility of the Mosgiel town centre has also ranked as a high priority for this Strategy. The key challenge in Mosgiel is to manage traffic and freight demands in a way that enables improvement of the amenity and safety within the Mosgiel town centre, particularly for vulnerable users, to ensure the vitality of the centre. Providing for vulnerable users is particularly important in Mosgiel as there is a high proportion of elderly residents and young people, who are especially dependent on good pedestrian and cycling facilities and high levels of access for those with mobility-impairments. Existing safety issues in Mosgiel have also led to its identification as a high priority.

TP. Tertiary Precinct safety and accessibility upgrade

There is a strong desire from the tertiary organisations to see an improved pedestrian and cycling environment around the tertiary area. This has come through as a priority for the Tertiary Sector Steering Group, which is a partnership between the DCC, University of Otago, the Otago Polytechnic and Southern District Health Board. Analysis has also identified a number of safety and accessibility issues in the transport network around the tertiary area and wider North Dunedin area. This includes sections of street and intersections on Albany Street, Clyde Street, Forth Street and Union Street in particular. It is proposed that a similar approach is taken to the tertiary area as is being taken for other centres, where safety and accessibility issues are tackled through the development of an area-wide comprehensive package of interventions. The goal of the package is to increase safety and accessibility for cycling and walking in and around the tertiary precinct.

CH. City to Harbour bridge

The need for an improved connection between the Harbour and the central city has been identified as a high priority for some time. Existing links include the level-crossing at St Andrew Street, the pedestrian overbridge at the Railway Station and the Cumberland Street overbridge at Jetty Street. These existing connections are not fully accessible, in that they only cater for able-bodied pedestrians but not cyclists or mobility impaired users. They also entail a number of safety problems.

The need for a fully accessible city to harbour connection remains a high strategic priority and the project included in this indicative implementation plan includes both a comprehensive investigation of the options (including review of previous studies) and the implementation (construction) of the preferred option. High-level analysis as part of this Strategy has indicated that a fully accessible bridge across State Highway 1, the railway, and the Eastern Bypass Freight Route in the vicinity of the central city would yield the greatest benefit.

CN. Strategic Cycle Network

The Strategic Cycle Network consists of key routes across the city which will be upgraded to provide safe facilities for cyclists – where possible separated from traffic. The development of the Dunedin Strategic Cycle Network is a high priority under four areas of focus: Safety, Travel Choices, Centres and Resilience. The two highest priority sections of the Strategic Cycle Network are currently under development, these are the South Dunedin Cycle Network and the Central City Cycle Network (the Central City Network includes North Dunedin and North East Valley).

The next priority in developing the Strategic Cycle Network will be to create a connection between the Central City and South Dunedin Cycle Networks and the Kaikorai Valley – Concord – Green Island – Abbotsford – Fairfield population catchment, via the Caversham Tunnel. Use of the tunnel rather than an on-road facility would eliminate the substantial obstacle of the Lookout Point hill and would mean a relatively flat uninterrupted cycle network (with minimal conflict with traffic) extending from Fairfield to the southwest, Normanby to the north, St Clair to the south and Portobello (and beyond) and Port Chalmers to the northeast. In future, this would be extended south to Brighton and beyond, and to Mosgiel, and up to the hill suburbs.

SP. State Highway 88 shared path

The completion of the State Highway 88 shared-path, between Dunedin and Port Chalmers is also a key priority for safety and recreation in Dunedin. While the project sits under the broader ‘Strategic Cycle Network’, it is identified as a distinct project as it is being implemented by the NZTA. It is intended that this project will progress, subject to funding, in parallel with the other SCN priorities being implemented by the DCC. The shared path has been completed from Dunedin to St Leonards, the remaining sections between St Leonards and Port Chalmers are yet to be completed The SH88 Shared Path and Portobello/Harington Point Road Improvements together form the Harbour Circuit component of the Strategic Cycle Network. The NZTA are responsible for developing the SH88 Shared Path.

CU. Major centre upgrades

In addition to the major upgrades identified for the central city and Mosgiel, discussed above, several of Dunedin’s other centres have also been identified as having relatively high risk, and also require major safety and accessibility upgrades. A programme of risk-targeted safety and accessibility upgrades for centres, with a particular focus on improving provision for walking, cycling and public transport, contributes strongly to four of the five areas of focus, namely Safety, Travel Choices, Centres and Resilience (see Section 8). These upgrades will be delivered through a Place Based Planning Approach, and integrate with improvements that are planned by other parts of the DCC, for example amenity improvements.

The centres ranked as having highest priority for upgrades are, in no particular order:

• Gardens (North East Valley)
• Caversham
• Mornington
• Green Island
• North Dunedin
• South Dunedin
• Port Chalmers
• Hillside
• Forbury
• Kaikorai South.

As part of these upgrades, a range of interventions may be used, including:

• Safe speed area treatment.
• Redesign of the street environment to reduce through-traffic and achieve a design speed that is safe for all users.
• Safety and accessibility improvements within the centres and on Strategic Pedestrian Routes and Strategic Cycle Routes in the vicinity of the centres.
• Address parking issues.

PM. Preventative Maintenance Strategy

The Strategy has identified that parts of Dunedin’s transport network are likely to be adversely affected by rising sea-levels and other hazards as a result of climate change. It is also likely that the current period of financial constraint will continue for some time. These two factors highlight the need for a strategic approach to prioritising where and how the transport network should be protected and secured in the future. The DCC will develop a Preventative Maintenance Strategy to address this issue.

ED. Road Safety Education

A Safe System approach requires consideration to be given to all the ‘pillars’ of the transport system (see Section 1.1.2 and Section 7, Principle 3). Infrastructure projects can only address certain aspects of any transport problem or aspiration, and are unlikely to be sufficient to achieve all the safety goals the DCC wants to achieve through the Integrated Transport Strategy. For this reason, road safety education is another high priority project to be delivered through this implementation plan. In conjunction with, and in addition to, transport infrastructure projects DCC will develop complimentary road safety education programmes, including road safety campaigns, driver and cycle skills training, and school travel planning.

PH. Pine Hill Road – Great King Street intersection

The intersection of Pine Hill Road and Great King Street at the northern end of the one-way system beside the Botanical Gardens) is among Dunedin’s highest risk intersections. On a national basis it also ranks as one of highest risk intersections on the State Highway network. For this reason a project focussing specifically on improving the safety performance of this intersection is a high priority under this Strategy. This intersection is wholly controlled by the NZTA, and the DCC will advocate for this project to be undertaken by the NZTA as a matter of priority. DCC will also advocate that the need for cyclists and pedestrians to be able to safely access North Road through this area be considered as part of any project.

SS. Safety upgrade of SH1 corridor south of Mosgiel (East Taieri area)

The combination of small local centres on State Highway 1 south of Mosgiel, the use of this road by freight, and safety issues on this road particularly for motorcyclists and cyclists as evidenced by crash data has led to this project being identified as a high priority. The DCC will advocate for this project to be prioritised by the NZTA.

WP. Conversion of the one-way system to two-way south of Queens Gardens

Converting the one-way system to two-way south of the Queens Gardens has also been identified as a high priority project for further investigation. The current one-way configuration creates severance between the central city and the Warehouse Precinct. The current scenario also sees both Crawford Street and Cumberland Street designated as State Highways, prioritising arterial through movement to the detriment of accessibility and amenity in the southern part of the central city. Converting these streets to two-way would enable Cumberland Street to be designated State Highway (with two lanes providing for arterial through traffic in both directions), while Crawford Street could be down-graded to a local road, enabling a greater range of options for pedestrian and cycling provision and improved access to and from the Central City. As with many of the projects included in this list, the conversion of the one-way system to two-way has not yet been committed to by the DCC, and further investigation is required into the feasibility of this project. However early investigations indicate the conversion can be made with no loss of efficiency on the state highway, and a gain in efficiency and safety on the overall network. As part of the Business Case process other options that might achieve the same outcome will also be assessed so that the approach which yields the highest ratio of benefits to cost will be considered.

MR. Mosgiel residential growth transportation projects

Three major residential developments have been approved for the Mosgiel area: Mosgiel East, Mosgiel East C and Mosgiel West. At the time these developments were approved it was identified that the residential growth that Mosgiel East and West would generate would necessitate transportation improvements at some future time, to cater for the increased demand. It was identified as appropriate that funding for the required transportation improvements should be funded, either totally or in part, by development contributions. These transportation network requirements are outlined as follows:

• Mosgiel East: This area lies between Hagart-Alexander Drive/Centre Street and Wingatui Road. It spans Factory Road, which bisects the area. It has been identified that a range of future improvements will become necessary as a result of this development, including safety provisions at key intersections and facilities for non-motorised road users. These improvements will be focussed on Factory and Wingatui Roads, and Centre Street. The necessary improvements are estimated to cost approximately $2.2 million, 85 – 90% of which will be funded through development contributions, the remaining 10 – 15% by rates. This project is already included in the 2012/13 – 2022/23 LTP.
• Mosgiel West: This area lies between State Highway 1 (Main South Road), Riccarton Road, Gladstone Road and Cemetery Road. Orchard Grove and Elizabeth Avenue are at the south-western end of the area. Two key transportation improvements have been identified as necessary to provide for the future demands generated by this development, these are:
  • Upgrade Cemetery Road to provide for an increase in vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists
  • Create a road to link Mosgiel West to Riccarton Road East.

  The Mosgiel West improvements are not expected to incur any cost to the ratepayer, but as they will be delivered by the DCC they are still included in the LTP.

  These projects are both already included in the Council’s LTP and are shown in the relevant periods on the 10-year Implementation Plan presented below. The key trigger for implementation will be the level of residential growth in the two development areas and therefore the DCC will monitor the transportation situation around these developments to determine exactly when construction will need to take place.

  FR. Freight by Rail Study

  This project is to identify and investigate opportunities and barriers to moving freight by rail.

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