http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/sout ... 6030952660
GRENFELL St would become a public transport-only zone under a final plan put forward by Thinker in Residence Fred Hansen.
The street's footpaths would be widened, allowing for outdoor cafes, and buses would be the only traffic.
Grenfell St is one of the city's busiest streets, carrying much of the O'Bahn bus traffic as well as private cars crossing the city.
Bus drivers have referred to it as a "moving carpark".
Mr Hansen, a former general manager of a US public transport operator, unveiled his vision on Tuesday night to about 700 people when giving his final address as Thinker in Residence.
"We need to be able to make Grenfell St pedestrian friendly," he told The Advertiser yesterday. "You pull out a traffic lane so people are not so cramped in. At 5pm now, you can barely navigate your way down the footpath. You also need to look at the lack of greenery along the street."
Mr Hansen said making Grenfell St a public transport-only street would also encourage the use of hybrid diesel-electric buses, cutting pollution and making it more comfortable for pedestrians.
He also calls on the Government to do more to promote a pedestrian culture in the city, complete a city tram loop and provide more facilities for cyclists. Another key recommendation is to create a planning and urban development authority to help ensure public space was of a high standard.
Speaking at the Urban Development Institute Australia national congress yesterday, Mr Hansen gave light-hearted criticism of the state of Adelaide's ageing public transport infrastructure.
"(For) many of the train stations here, in the greater Adelaide area, a World War II bunker would look better, and I think that in some of those settings a bulldozer would be the best answer," he said.
On the question of a development authority, Mr Hansen recommended it have a number of responsibilities.
"It would look at all of the infrastructure costs ... whether it's roads, streets or open space and many, many others and determine what the true cost of those are, ... and, ... allocate among the various players who has to pay for that," he said.
Mr Hansen described some developments in the outer suburbs as poorly designed and built.
"It leaves an impression that that is the only thing that will happen when we go to denser development," he said
not sure if this belongs here or on the CBD development board but here it is !
I actually like the idea, obviously things would need to be done on morphett street to assist with the increase number of people moving through the city but it would be interesting to see if this improved the street - and the PT that went through it.
