If New York can make most of Central Park car free, then why can’t we do the same with the Domain. That was my thought when watching this video from Streetfilms.
Last week, people walking and biking on the Central Park loop had to worry about taxi drivers and car commuters motoring through the park as a rush hour shortcut. This morning was different: Above 72nd Street, you could ride your bike, walk your dog, or go for a run on a safer, quieter path with a lot more elbow room.
Officials and advocates celebrated the permanent expansion of the park’s car-free zone under sunny skies this morning. While traffic is still allowed in the heavily-used southern section of Central Park, today’s ceremony marks a big step on the path to completely car-free parks.
Effective today, the Central Park loop north of 72nd Street is permanently car-free, except for emergency and service vehicles [PDF]. In Prospect Park, the West Drive will go car-free next Monday, July 6 [PDF]. Traffic will continue to be allowed at various hours on the Central Park loop south of 72nd Street, and during morning rush hour on the East Drive in Prospect Park.
The Domain might not quite be Central Park but it’s the closest thing we’ve got and in my view we need to be better use out of it by making it more inviting and people friendly.
Of course before we can make it more people friendly we need to improve how people can access it. Currently it’s very hard to do that if you’re coming from the city as it can be very unpleasant to do so if you’re not in a car. The most logical route for people coming from the city is along Wellesley St but absurdly that has no pedestrian access. That should hopefully improve soon with one of the projects funded out of the government’s Urban Cycleway Fund being a connection from Victoria Park to Grafton Rd.
That will some aspects of one of the core features of the City Centre Master Plan come to life, Move 6 – The Green Link – which is shown
I suspect that not all aspects of the green link will yet be built as some parts – like around Albert St – are reliant on the completion of the CRL
With improved connections from the city centre it would be possible to jump on a bike in the centre of town and for a relatively easy 5-10 minute ride be in the heart of the Domain for lunch.
What do you think, should the Domain be car free?
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In a word – yes. Only concern is access to the Museum for the immobile
Access for cars via the road next to Parnell i.e. Maunsell Rd could easily be maintained whereas there’s no reason for cars to be using Domain Dr or Lower Domain Drive.
No. Too hard to get little kids and oldies to the Museum/ Rotunda, fields etc
If there were a bus that went through maybe that could help. Is there one?
I have thought for a long time that cars should for more restricted in the domain, if not having it completely car free. I noticed they have recently cut off access to the road on the north side of the grandstand, which is a start.
They should at least cut off all through traffic
Start with blocking through traffic, so we lose the ratrunning?
I think that’s actually the key for here and many other places; it’s not about restricting ACCESS, it’s about restricting THOROUGHFARE. No problem allowing people to get to the museum, or the gardens, or cricket grounds or whatever. But don’t make it so easy for others to use it as a shortcut. That’s not what local streets should be about. Do that and you will probably find many of your problems disappear.
Hear hear. There are some issues to work out, but not insurmountable. Cars and buses can still get to the Museum from the Parnell side (via Maunsell Road). The west end of Domain Drive could remain open as far as the pavilion so that service vehicles can get in (and possibly pick-up/drop-off and disabled parking). I think we could also make a little trade with motordom: widen Carlton Gore and George Street for angle parking: in exchange, rip out Football Road and Grandstand Road.
Other than that: get rid of motor vehicles completely. The Particularly the parking, and the rat-run from Parnell. Lower Domain Drive is a disaster, and the eastern entrance to Domain Drive should be closed too, to avoid having a through-route in the Domain.
We need car access *to* the Domain, but letting cars *in* it is ludicrous.
Where will the anti-car mob stop?
There is absolutely nothing that will be gained by banning car access to the Domain, just like there is absolutely no benefit to banning car access to Central Park. I’ve walked extensively through Central Park and the cars were hardly noticeable.
The roading provides valuable access to cricket fields, football fields the museum and allows users, regardless of mobility to access and use the domain.
As a regular user of the Domain roading network in summer when I run regularly through the domain I can confidently say that vehicle access does not in any way impede other users.
Matthew, your trollish nature is showing so strongly on this one, its a wonder you don’t sprout hairy ears and live under a bridge. “I can confidently say that vehicle access does not in any way impede other users.” Really Matthew? Remember the discussion here a few months back about there being no footpaths along many of the roads? Little or no cycle paths? And have you ever tried to walk to the Domain from the City and get across Stanley St? There is no doubt that other modes of access are being massively impeded by cars.
Why call someone names because they disagree with you. I too am tired of the anti car tirades. This obsession is why this blog is not taken particularly seriously. When people with commonsense try to inject some balance out come the name callers. Stopping cars from accessing the domain will rule out the elderly the infirm and tourists. Do you really want that or is the anti car obsession so strong it overrules logic?
Suggesting something that could be car free and being anti-car are two completely different things. No one here is talking about banning cars from Auckland but that also doesn’t mean everywhere must have unlimited car access by right. In this case the Domain is a park, not an arterial route and shouldn’t be treated as such. Depending on how it was implemented it could still mean some limited car access to the edges of the park but not right through it.
As for comments that the blog isn’t taken seriously, I’ll have to remind myself of that next time we have meetings with AT, NZTA, MoT and other many organisations who see things differently.
OK Matt if the two are different, I look forward to you promoting car use and parking in areas you are OK with.
How will tourists be excluded from the Domain if there isn’t car access? We don’t have land access to other countries I think you’ll find.
Having lived so long in London, i find it really weird that we have so many roads going through our parks. Parks are for getting out in nature, that means getting out of your car, and with no cars around the parks are so much more enjoyable, quieter, cleaner, more pleasing to the eye. Certainly Auckland benefit greatly by removing traffic from it’s parks.
Yes but the parks in London are all over the place and often have tube stations right next to them and bus stops surrounding them.
London is also a flat city so it is easier to get around on foot/bike not to mention the population density being considerably higher.
And it rains a lot in Auckland, we have two natural habours and a whole heap of extinct volcanos. So clearly cars in parks make sense in Auckland but not elsewhere.
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“I can confidently say that vehicle access does not in any way impede other users”
My 15 month old son is not free to walk on his own because cars might run him over.
He either has to be carried or put in abuggy.
He is a user, he is inconvenienced.
I cycle through the park, but my partner would prefer not too ride in areas like that, because there’s too many cars, and drivers arent exactly keeping to the 30 km/h limit. She’s inconvenienced.
I’d hazard a guess that you barely noticed cars because, even before the ban north of 72nd, vehicle traffic was already restricted to limited hours on weekdays. Most of the roadway is only open between 8 and 10 am, Monday to Friday.
I live in this city and I use these parks (mostly Prospect Park, which has a similar limited-access outer roadway to Central Park) for non-tourist activities such as exercise, and I can tell you that during the hours where the roadways are open to fast-moving peak flow traffic, the environment is hostile and dangerous to actual park users who are on foot or bike. I’ve experienced road rage first hand on multiple occasions – most memorably from a speeding driver who thought he was entitled to use the bike lane to get around the vehicle in front of him, which was already doing a solid 25 mph.
The roadways in question directly parallel existing arterial routes that are located just outside the perimeters of the parks. Cars do not need to be there, especially at the detriment to park users. This isn’t New Zealand – people don’t have back yards, vast green spaces and easy access to nature. The parks are for people.
My suspicion is that the Domain is so big and has so much potential and different aspects that could be developed that it’s pretty much in the too hard/expensive basket at present with everything else going on. It’s like “save the best to later” want it perfect kind of thing, so basically just nothing happens.
Does anyone know if the plans for banning cars from the mountain summits is progressing? I’ve only heard about Mt Eden which can’t happen soon enough but It would be great if Mt Albert and the rest of the summits went car free too.
And the problem is?
same as the domain where cars spoil things for every other user.
Yes I can’t wait for Mt Eden to be car free. Such a pain running up there and getting a face full of car exhaust fumes.
Either walk from the carpark or take a shuttle for the disabled/infirm.
Bit OTT Bevan. “Faceful of car fumes’ in such an exposed place?
What a joke of a policy that is. Protecting some rocks and grass…. Those have been there for thousands of years and cars don’t make one lick of difference (buses maybe due to their size/weight). As for cultural significance, the Maori dug into these hills and altered them in some cases more than the road access has done! Banning cars is silly. If you are worried about pedestrian access then build that access! Also add in pedestrian crossings etc. Plenty of space for footpaths on most of these hills!
There are plenty of other measures to make the domain pedestrian/cyclist friendly. Auckland is a city of 1.5m people compared to NY with its 10m in the inner city areas. Auckland has a lot more areas for public space whereas Manhattan literally only has Central Park. Central Park therefore has a lot more people traffic and it makes sense to be car free. The Domain has no need for that.
“Manhattan literally only has Central Park.”
A quick look at a map will show you Manhattan has almost a hundred parks.
parks are the green dots. https://goo.gl/maps/Oaw9s
The botanical gardens have little trains that go round. And I have seem beautiful electric minibuses in places where no cars can go but long walks. Ban cars.
Ummm, OK
I usually say “car free is good” e.g. Queen St and Elliott St should be
But the Domain is a MAJOR sports ground. Not sure how all the teams training there would cope if they couldn’t park there. Not enough nearby parking.
Central Park doesn’t have any organised sports… big difference.
And let me make this clear: organised sports has a greater priority than passive recreation. No parent and two kids wanting to stroll down should have priority over a REAL sports team.
http://www.centralpark.com/guide/sports.html
Only 26 ball fields.
Not so sure Central Park and the Domain are a valid comparison.
How many subway stops does the Domain have?
Somewhat less than Central Park I’ll wager…
Accessibility is an issue.
No one has counted the number of bus routes that go the Domain either…
Grafton Station, central connector, link bus.
But I was mainly just taking the bait on the factless comment.
The “through” may have dropped from my comment somehow.
Any of those go through the Domain?
Exactly the same, zero. As for nearby stations, the domain will shortly have three, Grafton, Newmarket and Parnell. Plus two link bus routes on one size and about half the buses in Auckland on the other.
central park is 5 times bigger than the domain, of course that is going to require more public transport stops.
“No parent and two kids wanting to stroll down should have priority over a REAL sports team.”
And a cheery wave to you to. You have your opinion, I have mine. All those kiwis who are soooooo sporty, but can’t be asked to walk, cycle or use the bus to get to their sports – why should they be prioritised when they are too lazy to even walk a few hundred meters into the park?
And “people friendly”? Seriously? Have you EVER gone to the domain at say 11am on a Saturday? I don’t see how much more people friendly you could possibly make it. Ridiculous.
Footpaths on both side of the street? More than one pedestrian crossing maybe?
Central Park has the potential for about 84 potential level pedestrian access points from the surrounding street network (but many of them are fenced off and so the actual number is a lot less) – it is massively linked into the pedestrian network from most of Manhattan. The Domain, on the other hand, heads impenetrably into a gully on about half its perimeter and is bounded by an inhospitable hospital car parking complex on one edge and a railway ravine on another – let’s face it, it’s perimeter is nowhere near as permeable.
But remember that Frederick Olmsted and Calvert Vaux took decades to really establish Central Park, and the City of NY still kept working on it after their deaths. It is worth noting that “The most influential innovations in the Central Park design were the “separate circulation” systems for pedestrians, horseback riders, and pleasure vehicles. The “crosstown” commercial traffic was entirely concealed in sunken roadways (today called “transverses”), screened with densely planted shrub belts so as to maintain a rustic ambiance.” (Wikipedia)
If the problem is with footpaths, then simply upgrade the footpaths and add to them. If the problem is with through traffic, then do what has happened in Cornwall Park and redesign the roads to stop the through traffic.
I thought about this overnight and a car free park could be a great thing. How hard would it be to have a car free event or two programmed over the summer. Just to see how it would go?
The Domain was essentially car-free for the Rally NZ events in the Domain, which is rather ironic. It’s a great event space and the Parnell station will soon make it more accessible than ever. Even more ironically, the Rally events can no longer happen in the Domain due to the traffic-calming measures put in place to deal with everyday through-traffic, and with cars removed, you could repurpose the roads to a track standard, ala Albert Park in Melbourne, which is perhaps closer to The Domain’s natural fit than NYC. As a motorsport fan, I support this initiative.
Allowing access by car is one thing and is completely different from this important park hosting a through route for those heading elsewhere. The later is a poor use, and certainly undermines its value as a park, the former is useful and largely supports its core park use, but this probably could be optimised further.
As ever balance is the key, and, also as ever, the current balance looks way out of whack in favour of auto-domination. Would love to see a thorough study.
One not controlled by those junkies of motordom, pushers of tin, traffic engineers, of course: A balanced analysis for a balanced result.
Does the domain have traffic problems? I’ve never been aware of it. It’s not really between 2 places. Traffic from the inner east will go through Parnell or Tamaki Drive.
It’s not a rat run, because it doesn’t make sense to be one. Don’t see a problem that needs fixing here
Even more useful would be to ban cars from Panmure Bridge, then I might think about cycling to the Domain from Pakuranga. Until then I will have to carry my bike by car to the Domain.
You will soon be able to ride from Botany to the Domain entirely on separated cycle paths, next.
Although I have to say, that SH16 to the port is an ugly scar that rips the Domain from the CDB, it should be part of the University district. Having the Port there makes no sense either.
I used to walk through the domain twice daily nearly every weekday, from Ayr St to Grafton Rd and vice-versa. Regardless of whether the domain becomes car-free or not, there are certainly some improvements that should be implemented for pedestrians. The first of these (in my view) would be a zebra crossing on Domain Drive near Titoki St or the tennis courts. This is because Domain Drive certainly is used as a rat-run to and from Ayr St and SH16, and can be difficult to cross, and the traffic lights at the end are slow and inconveniently phased for the benefit of pedestrians.
There is a lack of footpaths in many areas around the museum and elsewhere in the domain, and those that do exist tend to follow the circuitous paths of the roads. Striding directly across the grass is well and good in dry weather, but not so much when it’s wet.
Pedestrian access to the rear of the museum from the Newmarket direction requires scrambling over grassy slopes (which isn’t feasible for everyone) and/or negotiation of Manusell Rd, the lanes behind the museum, and the intersection with Museum Circuit, all of which lack any paths or pedestrian crossing facilities whatsoever. The only path from the museum leads to the underground parking garage but no further. It seems that pedestrian facilities are only provided for those who drive to the museum.