Young says make Lampton Quay a mall

Stuff reports:

It’s time for Wellington to banish the buses, tear out the traffic and hand control of its main street to people on foot, a mayoral aspirant says.

Councillor Nicola Young has promised to push for Lambton Quay to be converted into a pedestrian mall, and to revisit sending State Highway 1 underground along Vivian St, if she is elected mayor in October.

With the demise of Wellington’s trolley buses just around the corner, and the decommissioning of the overhead wires to follow, the time was right to discuss removing traffic altogether from the jewel in the Golden Mile, Young said.

It would place Wellington alongside other “forward-thinking” cities that had restricted their main shopping areas to foot traffic, such as Sydney’s Pitt St Mall and Adelaide’s Rundle Mall.

Young’s vision for Lambton Quay involves paving, more trees, street furniture, distinctive feature lighting, social spaces and no vehicle fumes.

I think this is a very good idea. Bob Jones proposed similar a few years back. Turning it into a mall would be great for the city centre. Get far more people shopping and walking there and more outdoor sections for cafes.