Wairaka's 'bloody nuisance” planter boxes are getting the boot.

Final plans were revealed for the Innovating Streets traffic-calming project at a Whakatāne District Council meeting last week, but councillors have requested more information before accepting them.

The Innovating Streets project is 90 percent funded by New Zealand Transport Agency, Waka Kotahi, and has seen the council install planter boxes and road paintings around the neighbourhood over the past year, surrounded by safe hit posts, with the aim of slowing traffic.

A report from infrastructure general manager Bevan Gray includes plans for permanent changes to the temporary installations on Muriwai Drive, Wairaka Road and Harvey and Toroa streets.

Mr Gray said following feedback from Ngāti Hokopū hapū, Wairaka residents and the wider community, council staff could now make final changes to the Wairaka installations.

In the short term, this will involve removing most of the planter boxes, except for those near the playground on Muriwai Drive, and replacing them with posts that will still narrow the road and protect the road art but be lower maintenance. Posts and planter boxes will be removed from the intersection of Harvey and Toroa streets.

On Wairaka Road, one of the chicanes - serpentine curves that narrow the road to one lane - will be modified to allow access to the overflow parking site at Liberty Church.

Councillor Julie Jukes said she was pleased that staff were taking on feedback from the public over the installations, but she had 'a bit of a brick bat” for staff over project.

'I have strongly indicated that I haven't been happy with a lot of the things that were done. A lot of the innovations I suggested would have been improvements. None of that ever happened and yet we spent money and created things that were just a bloody nuisance.”

She gave, as an example, her suggestion for picnic tables at the car park along the back of The Strand, 'Things like that would have been very low cost and used hugely by the public, ongoing.”

She also asked why the final decision was being left to a reference group rather than coming back to council. She said she would not approve any of the changes proposed for innovating streets until she had seen a fuller report come back to the council.

Councillor Nandor Tanczos also wants to see a more thorough evaluation of the installations.

Mr Gray said he had wanted to close the project off the way it started.

'We started the project with some input from the community … it will be the same with the close off.”

He said the final plans would come through council.

'We don't have a budget to put in any permanent solutions, so if we are going to do anything short to medium term within this long-term plan it will need to be approved out of existing budgets. If they are significant projects, they will need to be planned for the next long-term plan.”

He accepted that most people did not like the planter boxes 'for a variety of reasons”.

'In most instances these will be replaced with posts that will still provide protection for the road art and narrow the road space to slow vehicles. This should remove most of the ongoing maintenance issues as well. The large planter boxes immediately after the boat ramp entrance will remain as a physical reminder that traffic is entering a busier recreational area.”

He said the Toroa and Harvey streets intersection had mixed support due to the road narrowing being seen as unsafe. The installation would be modified with the hit posts and planter boxes removed to provide more space for vehicles. The paint work would remain as this would have a narrowing effect without making the road feel as tight.

He said slower speeds on Muriwai Drive were still desired by the general public and Ngāti Hokopū. 'The opportunity to provide a slower speed limit and speed management infrastructure will be considered through the District Speed Review, expected to be completed in 2022.”

He said a permanent intersection layout for the intersection of The Strand and Toroa Street, in front of The Comm, and more permanent traffic calming through the Wairaka neighbourhood would be considered for inclusion in the 2024 long-term plan.

In July 2020, the council was granted $494,200 from Waka Kotahi's $13.95 million Innovating Streets Fund.

-Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air