Auckland City | Queen Street Upgrade

[Mr_kiwi_fruit]

As this is quite a large project and has taken place over a long period of time I have decided to devote a thread to the upgrade.

I am sure the first thing that comes to mind was all the chaos and narrow corridors provided to pedestrians as the upgrade progressed. Most of lower and Mid queen Street is now complete and they are working on Upper Queen street at the moment.














I am sure most people were pleased to see the end of this seating








The original paving



Here you can see where the old and new paving meet in Wyndham Street




A few before and afters

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[Svartmetall]

Thanks so much for an excellent summation Mr KF! I agree that the new paving does look more "flash" than the old, but still comment on the unfortunate tendancy of the paving to stain. Here's hoping once the work is done that they will properly blast the paving and then coat with a stain resistant finish, or at least seal the porous stone.

The new seating is a vast improvement over the old, however.

[MonsieurAquilone]

I really appreciate the effort you put into this. Wonderful photos of the progression of the upgrade. Great to see all the work going on and the transformation at the end. Pat on the back Mr KF .

[Mr_kiwi_fruit]

Thanks Svarty. I have quite a few more images to add which I will do when they become available. I have been trawling through 56000 images on my HD to find those related to Queen street.

[Mr_kiwi_fruit]

Originally Posted by MonsieurAquilone

I really appreciate the effort you put into this. Wonderful photos of the progression of the upgrade. Great to see all the work going on and the transformation at the end. Pat on the back Mr KF .

Thank you MA! Its easy to forget what it used to look like when you walk through the city everyday, but these pictures bring back to mind just how bad it really looked in comparison to now!

[Svartmetall]

Originally Posted by Mr_kiwi_fruit

Thanks Svarty. I have quite a few more images to add which I will do when they become available. I have been trawling through 56000 images on my HD to find those related to Queen street.

You're definitely a prolific photographer! I only wish I could visit areas of Auckland that merit photography more often!

I think the biggest upgrades to Queen Street aren't necessarily to do with the paving itself, but more to do with the upgrading of the lanes off the main drag itself and the installation of the extra pedestrian crossings. The surrounds of the trees (with the drainage channels) are of such a vast improvement it is hard to imagine life without them. Even the replacement of the fire hydrant covers was a vast improvement.

I also think the new lights and traffic lights are the bees knees. People often seem to overlook these things when talking about the upgrades to Queen Street. It is the little details that make this upgrade worthwhile.

[Mr_kiwi_fruit]

A hell of a lot has gone on apart from the paving. The paving is probably the most obvious. Probably IMO the most useful has been the introduction of new traffic light controlled pedestrian crossings at a few new points

1. Durham lane
2. Strand Arcade
3. Myers park

and possibly a few more.

This is the Strand Arcade crossing (closest to Strand Arcade)

Other changes that have been great are the widening of pavements in general - especially around Whitcoulls corner. (which I will cover later with images).

Also the entire corners of the streets have been made flat to allow easy access for wheelchairs and lazy people who don't like lifting their feet.

What I personally don't like the little yellow dots (seen above in the picture) - I find them extremely slippery when wet!

[Mr_kiwi_fruit]

Some more of the "behind the scenes" work.

[Svartmetall]

Originally Posted by Mr_kiwi_fruit

What I personally don't like the little yellow dots (seen above in the picture) - I find them extremely slippery when wet!

I've commented about that too (in the PT section in fact when talking about train stations). Those little plastic raised "bumps" are VERY slippery when wet and can actually come out of the ground too.

In the UK our raised paving was quite literally a moulded concrete block. Now I know these aren't as attractive as proper stone paving, but they were hellishly more practical!

[Kane007]

And now we need 2 of those lanes given over to bus lanes with 2 lanes left for general traffic.

Bugger, I don't think this will happen any more - B.A.N.K.S.

[Svartmetall]

Agreed. The Queen Street bus lanes have gone very quiet at the moment? Can anyone post some information about the progress in the PT thread?

[nzman]

Originally Posted by Svartmetall

I think the biggest upgrades to Queen Street aren't necessarily to do with the paving itself, but more to do with the upgrading of the lanes off the main drag itself and the installation of the extra pedestrian crossings.

I think the biggest upgrade will be when they get rid of all the cheap tacky stores and fast food outlets that litter Queen Street and start replacing them with some classier stores like you see on Lambton Quay in Wellington.

[SYDNEY]

Originally Posted by nzman

I think the biggest upgrade will be when they get rid of all the cheap tacky stores and fast food outlets that litter Queen Street and start replacing them with some classier stores like you see on Lambton Quay in Wellington.

They have started refurbishing some shops and a couple of really classy shops have moved in or plan to move in BUT it will never be Lambton Quay ... Wellingtonian's mind-set is very, very different to that of Aucklanders (which I find to be more "rough around the edges") and that is reflected in Queen Street

[Svartmetall]

Originally Posted by nzman

I think the biggest upgrade will be when they get rid of all the cheap tacky stores and fast food outlets that litter Queen Street and start replacing them with some classier stores like you see on Lambton Quay in Wellington.

Most of the "cheap and tacky" are being moved along, mainly due to high rents along Queen Street. The two dollar shop and the Asian food court have been moved and are (possibly) being replaced by Gucci. Gentrification is slowly taking place. Don't forget, there was a period not too long ago that CBD foot traffic hit an all time low (from what I was reading anyway) and so the quality of QS did plummet. It's undergoing a renaissance now and that process takes time.

As for fast food - where else would they go? I'm sorry but most "main streets" in the world have a few fast food outlets down them. As much as I hate the concept, I think they're there to stay. True the Champs-Élysées and the Kurfürstendamm (Ku'damm) don't have the prolific fast food, but these are upmarket shopping streets. In Auckland, the upmarket area centres mainly around High Street, and this area is getting better all the time!

[SYDNEY]

Originally Posted by Svartmetall

Most of the "cheap and tacky" are being moved along, mainly due to high rents along Queen Street. The two dollar shop and the Asian food court have been moved and are (possibly) being replaced by Gucci. Gentrification is slowly taking place. Don't forget, there was a period not too long ago that CBD foot traffic hit an all time low (from what I was reading anyway) and so the quality of QS did plummet. It's undergoing a renaissance now and that process takes time.

As for fast food - where else would they go? I'm sorry but most "main streets" in the world have a few fast food outlets down them. As much as I hate the concept, I think they're there to stay. True the Champs-Élysées and the Kurfürstendamm (Ku'damm) don't have the prolific fast food, but these are upmarket shopping streets. In Auckland, the upmarket area centres mainly around High Street, and this area is getting better all the time!

I couldn't have said it better, Queen Street is also catering for the large Asian community (which is bigger than Wellington's - me thinks). Lambton Quay has a completely different feel and I just love it.

[a_slight_hitch]

Originally Posted by Svartmetall

As for fast food - where else would they go? I'm sorry but most "main streets" in the world have a few fast food outlets down them. As much as I hate the concept, I think they're there to stay.

disagree - would love to see Queen St modeled on Michigan Ave in Chicago - you'd be hard pressed to get a burger anywhere on that truly magnificent mile.

it's been a few years since i was last on Queen St but looking at the photos it's nice to see a few before and afters of the upgrade.

One thing that has been mentioned a few times in different places that i would love to see happen is the removal of all the canopies. an unusual feature of our main street - i would wager you would be hard-pressed to find a similar main thoroughfare in any other global city that blinded it's residents to the architecture and views around it in such a way.

[Svartmetall]

Originally Posted by a_slight_hitch

disagree - would love to see Queen St modeled on Michigan Ave in Chicago - you'd be hard pressed to get a burger anywhere on that truly magnificent mile.

it's been a few years since i was last on Queen St but looking at the photos it's nice to see a few before and afters of the upgrade.

One thing that has been mentioned a few times in different places that i would love to see happen is the removal of all the canopies. an unusual feature of our main street - i would wager you would be hard-pressed to find a similar main thoroughfare in any other global city that blinded it's residents to the architecture and views around it in such a way.

Mmhm, but like I said - the upmarket shopping district in Auckland isn't the main drag. You'll be hard pressed to find a fast food outlet on high street too where the higher class shopping does exist.

The canopy thing exists throughout Australia too. Sydney and Melbourne arguably more "global cities" than Auckland both still have canopies from their shops. I agree it's odd and I don't like them, however, it seems Aucklanders as a whole are largely in favour of them as they don't like being exposed to the elements.

[MonsieurAquilone]

Les Champs-Élysées has a "local" fast-food store halfway down called Quick. A shame really, it sort of looks incongruous with the rest of the street.

[Svartmetall]

Originally Posted by MonsieurAquilone

Les Champs-Élysées has a "local" fast-food store halfway down called Quick. A shame really, it sort of looks incongruous with the rest of the street.

It also has a large Hagen Datz ice cream place near the Arc de Triomphe. But they don't stand out quite as much as the Queen Street ones - nor are they as plentiful in number in such a short space - which is why others are complaining about them being there I think.

It doesn't really bother me. Most town centres in Britain had fast food and I just had to learn to turn a blind eye to them. Even in relatively unspoilt cities like Genevé there were McDonnalds poking their ugly street frontage in the most stupid locations ever thought possible.

[MonsieurAquilone]

Wherever they can get another buck I suppose, unfortunately.