News & Discussion: Laneway & Streetscape Projects

[Nathan]

How the fuck was this section not shovel ready the second Adelaidean and the student building were finished?

Almost 10 years to complete a single separated bikeway is an utter failure of multiple terms of council, let alone a second EW bikeway or a proper network.

[ChillyPhilly]

What an absolutely unnecessary waste of money. There is literally nothing wrong with that laneway and I can think of at least 20 others that need improvement...

What is the ACC thinking!?

Paxton's Walk was an abomination of a laneway that was in dire need of a rethink, especially as it directly connects Rundle St to the tram stop and Lot 14.
All the "ground floor" tenancies being vacant isn't by chance.

Agree, it's pretty dingy. The northern half is dead.

[SRW]

Worth noting that the planned upgrade for the southern side of North Terrace never happened and all references have been deleted from the Council's website. It's in pretty shoddy condition, with large expanses of the slate tiles patched by bitumen and many others crumbling away -- this is particularly so near the new student towers, despite development conditions requiring that public infrastructure be 'made good'. One of the more conspicuous areas of neglect from the current Council.

[Algernon]

Worth noting that the planned upgrade for the southern side of North Terrace never happened and all references have been deleted from the Council's website. It's in pretty shoddy condition, with large expanses of the slate tiles patched by bitumen and many others crumbling away -- this is particularly so near the new student towers, despite development conditions requiring that public infrastructure be 'made good'. One of the more conspicuous areas of neglect from the current Council.

On a positive note, celebrate the success of the council figuring out how not to lay down a huge sum of money on a footpath 5 minutes before it's set to get dug up again.

[Norman]

Some recent photos of the Bentham Street upgrade

[gnrc_louis]

Bentham will be good when (if?) the Travelodge goes up too.

[Spotto]

Interesting they're using bitumen for the roadway instead of concrete or paving like Bank Street. Maybe to more clearly separate traffic from pedestrians? But doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose of the upgrade?

[Patrick_27]

Interesting they're using bitumen for the roadway instead of concrete or paving like Bank Street. Maybe to more clearly separate traffic from pedestrians? But doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose of the upgrade?

I never thought I’d be saying this but I actually prefer the bitumen to pavers… Unless it’s properly concreted cobblestone, bitumen won’t succumb to the weight of vehicles like pavers have done elsewhere.

[Norman]

Interesting they're using bitumen for the roadway instead of concrete or paving like Bank Street. Maybe to more clearly separate traffic from pedestrians? But doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose of the upgrade?

Bitumen is preferred to pavers as the pavers get dangerously slippery in wet weather. Just look at Victoria Square and Hindley Street West.

[ChillyPhilly]

Cars/motor vehicles seriously need to be banned from Bank Street, and the street in general needs a clean.

[ChillyPhilly]

A few snaps of my own of Bentham St. Already a massive improvement. Taken 7 October. Click on photos for bigger.

[SRW]

It is an improvement but it pisses me off no end that Council attempts to re-invent the wheel with every successive upgrade. The Bentham Street upgrade bears no resemblance to the rest of the Riverbank to Market walk, nor similar streetscapes. What's the point of a city design manual if they never follow it? Surely it's cheaper to stick to the same materials?

One of the most striking things about Melbourne's CBD is the bluestone paving -- you have real sense of destination/arrival because the city has a distinct visual identity. Our design manual sought to achieve that to nought effect. If we followed it, the Gawler Place/North Terrace upgrades would be the template for the remainder of the capital city zone.

[Nort]

Was the bitumen quite likely chosen because if the new construction on that street goes up soon pavers would be ruined by all the heavy equipment coming in and out?

[[Shuz]]

Whilst I agree there should be some degree of consistency along various streetscapes which has already manifested, i.e. North Terrace, Rundle Street, Rundle Mall/Gawler Place, it's still important that each streetscape should have their own visual identity. The city would look boring as hell if every street looked the same.

[urban]

It's desirable for the Gawler place upgrade to have a different character to the Riverbank to Market Walk but the full length of the Riverbank to Market Walk should have a consistent design language and materials palette.