20: Walking on Wellesley
What if you could stroll happily from the Art Gallery to the Museum?
The very poor choices for walking or cycling across Grafton Gully has been the subject of a number of posts on the blog in the past. This idea takes a slightly different slant on the value of improving a Wellesley Street route; highlighting the significant arts, culture and learning institutions that could be linked together.
Something Auckland needs to do more of is find the opportunities to intervene strategically to unlock the significant potential that already exists in many parts of the city. To become the world’s most liveable city we should really make better use of some of the world class assets we already have. The Auckland Domain and the Auckland Museum are certainly in this category but suffer a little from being cut off from the city centre. Just ask any international visitor that has attempted to walk to the museum from their inner city hotel.
Heading east from the Civic Theatre on Queen Street, an arts and learning link along Wellesley Street would pass the Central Library on Lorne Street, the Auckland Art Gallery, Albert Park, AUT and University of Auckland campuses, and, once across the motorway, the opportunity to create a more legible route through the Domain to the Auckland Museum. There could be a new set of city gates that form a Wellesley Street entrance to the Domain, cementing a route that doesn’t exist at the moment providing a legible and intuitive route between the heart of the city and the largest open space on the city fringe.
The route could start to take on a life of its own, becoming a highly recognisable, celebrated and lively link between the arts and learning quarters and the museum. These sorts of links are I believe what Auckland needs more of: gestures that make the city more understandable and connect up more of the good bits into continuously walkable and enjoyable patches of city. Throw the New Network bus routes along Wellesley Street into the mix and you start to get a sense of how much more this stretch of road could contribute to city life.
image credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/eyeonauckland/
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Yes yes yes! The number of lost tourists one comes across trying to make this very trip is amazing.
Fantastic idea.
The dreadful state of Grafton Gully is arguably the clearest example of just how insane we allowed things to get in this city. Its current state can only be because we allowed the inmates to design the asylum. At least adding a cycling and walking route from Wellesley across to the Domain is a relatively easy fix for that part of the problem, and by connecting to the new Active superhighway going north/south it will make even more sense, so why hasn’t it happened?
Oh that’s right the crazy ideology that made this mess still reigns…
Seriously, Grafton Gully pedestrian links need work NOW. Can’t believe it’s not on AC and AT’s radar. The Wellesley walk could be a great tourist attraction. It has the elements. All it needs is a street. Most precincts have the opposite problem. Why so tough to fix?
Walking from the city via Grafton Rd to the domain is a nightmare, you’re confronted with a giant slip lane with no priority (I’ve asked AT on numerous occasions why there’s no zebra crossing and their answer has always been that apparently no one walks there – of course asking for that data revealed they had never done a count – but that’s beside the point). This is the main route there from the city centre and is pretty unpleasant at present by could be easily fixed if there was any will. Once over the remnants of Stanley Street you’re confronted with a ratty carpark and a dark canyon if you decide to continue up Grafton Rd. It’s pretty appalling that so litter concern was paid for anyone not accessing the domain in a car. A similar situation then occurs down on Lower Domain Drive, 3-4 lanes, no way to cross without dodging cars, and all because apparently people driving into the Domain couldn’t possibly be slowed down by anyone wanting to enjoy it by walking there.
Cit Rats Council were offered a pedestrian connection by NZTA, to be built by them at no cost to council. True to form, right wingers turned the offer down.
When was this, in the enlighten Banks years?
Speaking of Banksy, wasn’t it he who made the Te Wero bridge too narrow, which is now being considered for replacement? Naturally the Herald is being critical of this plan… no sense of history as always…
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11318021
They cut the budget after there was a design competition for a larger bridge, the current one was always intended as temporary so it’s bizarre that the Herald is making a big deal about it. Have they ever been down there and seen how absolutely congested and full it can get. Ideally there needs to be a separate dedicated cycle lane as well as a tram crossing. The story would be quite different if this was a road bridge however, they’d be calling for it to be widened because of all the backed up cars.
Not quite true Christopher, Council was asked to chip in a relative pittance to add a footpath to what was otherwise a motorway bridge. John “slash rates core business” Banks declined. The marginal cost at the time would have been a few percent of what it will cost to add one now.
Thanks Banksy.
Wonderful post, as always, Patrick. What I find shocking is that anyone who takes the short, logical and direct route from downtown to the Domain gets to the top of Wellesley St and is confronted by signs banning pedestrians and cyclists. Ironically the underpass under Symonds has an ideal-width space for a footpath and cycle path because it was designed for a light rail link which was canned by the John Banks council.
That’s the same outfit that hastened to put 4 lanes and clear ways (but no bus priority) through Epsom prior to the Rugby World Cup, because 60,000 visitors were expected to arrive at the airport and roar into town in their cars.
Hi Linz. The underpass was opened about 40-45 years ago and was designed to accommodate the motorway offramp northbound (which existed up till the Grafton Gully upgrade) and a southbound exit flyover coming off a future motorway running up the gully from the proposed Eastern Motorway. 3 or 4 lanes would run one way under Symonds St onto Wellesley St. There was no consideration of light rail back then.
When I used to work in town I walked a similar route many times whilst playing soccer in the Domain.
Had no problems whatsoever with the walk. The biggest impediment is the steep geography.
Insanity that it’s not there. There’s even a lovely, grassy, graded, tree-free, wide open swoopy path up through the Domain from beside the Bowling Club at the bottom all the way to the duck ponds at the top, that makes a sweet stroll up or an amazing rainy-day mountain bike barrel down, just waiting to be added to this link. I believe it was intended to be a road at some point in the far-distant past. Google Maps it. Odd but cool.
An idea out of left-field would be to cap the highways between the Domain & Wellesley St and build a park on it (call it the Domain Extension?), so the walk would be more pleasant. Something like this in Hamburg: http://thecityfix.com/blog/hamburg-germany-to-cover-expanded-highway-with-public-park/. Walking that path now is quite a harsh experience..
Not so left field, that was in the City Centre Masterplan.
What about running the link through the University of Auckland proper?
Wellesley E. past Toi o Tamaki and then hug Albert Park by going up Princes.
Turn off Princes, along Alfred then down Grafton to the Domain.
This would create a City – Domain link for both tourists and students, would be less hassle to implement and the walk is probably more appealing.
Also it puts you closer to Stanley St (Tennis), the Carlaw Park hub and the potential Parnell station.
Leaves you right at the “gates” of the Centennial Walkway.