Work to remove a section of the Green Corridor through the CBD is set to start next week.

Removal of the Hinemoa Street section between Fenton Street and Tutanekai Street will see the reinstatement of approximately 29 parks including standard car parks, two mobility car parks and three motorcycle parks. These will be a mix of free P60 and paid P180.

The work will be undertaken by Fulton Hogan under its regular maintenance contract to Rotorua Lakes Council.

Weather dependent and all going well, it is expected to take up to two weeks to complete the work.

Businesses in the vicinity are being notified and disruption is expected to be minimal with footpaths and at least one side of the road expected to remain open throughout the work. Road management will be in place if/as required.

Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell is pleased the work will be completed on this section of the Green Corridor now, ahead of the busy holidays.

“It’s great that we’re able to show the community we’ve listened to feedback and are taking action to help support local businesses and residents as we lead into a busy summer shopping period,” Mayor Tapsell says.

Infrastructure and Environmental Solutions DCE Stavros Michael says there are no plans at this stage for removal of the remainder of the Green Corridor.

“When the Green Corridor was installed we were still working on extending our shared path network. We now have an extended network throughout our city, a total of about 60 kilometres that link to and around the CBD, and a transport functionality review that provided options for the CBD determined that it could be removed.

“We were able to fit the removal of this Hinemoa Street section into the current financial year and the rest will be looked at as part of development of CBD revitalisation plans that are still to be finalised,” Mr Michael says.

Where are things at with CBD revitalisation plans?

A review of the functionality of the inner city transport network and potential removal of the Green Corridor provided three potential options for the CBD, all of which identified that the Green Corridor could be removed.

Consideration of the options identified by the functionality review will be incorporated into CBD revitalisation work that is still in its preliminary stages following work with the Covid recovery inner city group and pre-engagement with key stakeholders on a framework that pulled together common themes and elements from previous CBD plans. This framework will form the basis for further discussion and considerations.

One aspect the framework looks at is making better use of Haupapa Street as a slower, safer park-to-park link between the Government Gardens and Kuirau Park. Speeds in and around the CBD will also be reviewed with a view to improving safety for all users.

Final options for the CBD have yet to be developed and removal of the rest of the Green Corridor will be considered as part of this work.

How much is it costing to remove this first portion of the Green Corridor?

Approximately $50,000.

What was the idea behind the Green Corridor?

It was initially recommended as part of a 2006 CBD revitalisation strategy that also included establishing Eat Streat and refreshing the former City Focus (now Te Manawa) and it also aligned with Rotorua’s urban cycling strategy.

Work developing the Corridor proposal was a collaboration between Council, Rotorua Cycle Action and the former Inner City Focus Group representing CBD retailers and businesses.

The public was consulted and the project was included in the 2015-25 Long-term Plan (LTP) and was completed in September 2015.

How much did it cost to install the Green Corridor?

The project cost $442,000 with NZTA funding 57% ($252,000) and Rotorua Lakes Council the remainder ($190,000) from existing budgets. Due to changes requested by businesses in Haupapa St, the final cost was $72,000 higher than originally budgeted.

How many carparks were removed to make way for the Green Corridor?

50 of the CBD’s more than 3000 parks were removed to make way for the Green Corridor, 29 of these in Hinemoa St where at that time they were in use 39% of the time.

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