The assurances from the project’s designers come after Dunedin Mayor Jules Radich, who favours retaining flexibility including preserving the possibility of two-way traffic, drew criticism on the campaign trail after raising concerns that the street’s design could lead to crime, citing the example of the pedestrian-friendly Cuba St in Wellington.
Dunedin City Council central city plan project director Dr Glen Hazelton said emergency services had been involved in the redesign since before the design phase.
Throughout the redevelopment there had been ongoing monthly meetings with Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz), police, St John and Isaacs.
The redesign team had worked to accommodate historic bugbears and to ease access to the centre city throughout the redevelopment.
St Andrew St was a major access point for St John and Fenz and as a result of consultation, a raised island outside the Wall Street Mall was removed so ambulances could get through red lights faster.
While it was slightly outside the design team’s remit, they were working to get the flashing lights outside the St John premises in York Place working and controlled locally.
The project team was also working on a process to hand over control of the retractable bollards to emergency services, which would assist with traffic management in the event of an incident.
Talks with police about rolling out CCTV cameras through the entire street were under way.
"We’re working through with police exactly where we want those cameras," Dr Hazelton said.
Despite suggestions it would be hard to enforce, police had supported proposals for a 10kmph speed limit, as injuries would not be as severe in the case of an accident, Dr Hazelton said.
Rising bollards meant the street could be closed at times, for instance at nights if ram-raids became a concern, or for cruise ship visits or during Christmas shopping periods; although any decisions needed to come from the community, Dr Hazelton said.
While concerns had been raised that fewer vehicles going through the space would make it less safe for pedestrians going through the area at night, it was likely that more people and slower traffic would result in more eyes on the street if something happened, Dr Hazelton said.
The design team was also working towards more outdoor dining in the redeveloped street with some retailers, which would likely mean more people out and about in the early evenings.
The Government’s Protecting Our Crowded Places from Attack strategy had not been brought up by police, Dr Hazelton said.
The crowded places strategy was developed in the wake of the March 15 attacks and provides guidelines for operators of crowded spaces, including suggesting that security is planned-for in the design phase when places where crowds will gather are being developed.
Jasmax Senior Urban Designer Edward Jolly said that while no specific consultation was sought about the strategy by the design team, the design aligned well with international best practises.
For instance, design features helped to control the movement of vehicles, which had been used in terror attacks overseas.
Such interventions would be effective on a day-to-day basis but would also enhance event management.
