SWANSTON ST, MELBOURNE & CBD LANEWAYS
Email interview with Rob Adams, Director Design & Culture,
City of Melbourne, 21 February 2006
1. The role Landscape Architects played
in the development of Swanston St
The role played by Landscape Architects
in the development of Swanston Street was their involvement at
the conceptual design stage of the project and project manager. The
approach taken by the City of Melbourne is one of multi-disciplinary
urban design teams that conceive and deliver city projects such
as Swanston Street.
2. What were the challenges and how
were they addressed?
In reducing the through traffic within this major
street of central Melbourne there were obviously numerous challenges. In
particular, the design had to accommodate essential traffic,
such as delivery vehicles, trams, buses, bicycles and some motor
vehicles.
Issues of infrastructure, such as drainage, in
particular the fact that the street is located in a low lying section
of the CBD and was subject to flooding. In order not
to compromise the water carrying capacity of the street, it was
necessary to retain the road surface with kerbs and gutters for
overland removal of water. The centre of the tramlines in
Swanston Street is often higher than the shop frontages on the
western side of the street. This meant that the design, while
having to provide increased pedestrian amenity had to continue
to function similar to the existing street so as to avoid future
litigation for property damage during flooding.
The third challenge
was that of planting over 100 trees directly over the main stormwater
drain which was a brick barrel vaulted structure and therefore
vulnerable to root penetration and cracking. This
was done by providing concrete protection to the water main and
allowing trees to develop above them.
3. What materials were used/ artworks/
plant materials etc to link the streetscape?
The main materials used were bluestone
paving, 100 trees and the City of Melbourne suite of furniture
and signage plus numerous artworks which were commissioned as part
of the refurbishment of Swanston Street. See Places for People.
4. How is the street used?
The street is
used as a calmed road, providing additional amenity for pedestrians
through an increase in footpath space by 3.5 metres on each side
of the road. Bicycles and tram users
were also accommodated in improved facilities.
The amenity of tram
users was improved by eliminating safety zones and expanding footpaths
so as to allow people to move with simplicity and dignity from
the expanded footpath onto the tram, a marked difference from the
previous arrangement where tram users were crushed in the middle
of a busy road.
5. How successful was the project?
While
the project has received continuous commentary, mainly due to the
fact that it was misunderstood as being a pedestrianisation project,
rather than a traffic calming project, the success can now be measured
in the increased vitality of the retail along the street and a
doubling of pedestrian numbers over 10 years.
These
surveys were undertaken by the City and outlined in the Places
for People publication, which is attached. Swanston Street
is now considered by industry observers as one of Australia's
most successful retail streets.
6. Plans for the future?
At the same time
as Swanston Street was calmed, a small section of Bourke Street
running between Swanston and Russell received the same treatment. In
the past few months, part of the section of Bourke Street that
was widened has been further widened to extend the footpaths out
to the tram tracks and therefore assist in further calming the
amount of traffic entering the street and allowing improved access
for tram users onto footpath.
It is proposed over the next
few years that the section of Swanston Street, between Latrobe
and Little Londsdale and Collins and Flinders Lane, namely the
areas opposite the State Library and the City Square will have
their footpaths extended out to the tram lines so as to achieve
a greater amount of public open space and limit the access by private
vehicles, particularly those wishing to travel the full length
of the street, although this an illegal move.
In conclusion, like
many major urban design projects, the project has taken sometime
to find its place within the City. But
as a major change strategy to the City it has been successful and
the street now carries more pedestrians than Regent Street in London
and is one of the prime retailing areas of central Melbourne. There
has also been a dramatic drop in the number of pedestrian accidents
and a dramatic increase in the number of the pedestrians and cyclists
using the street. It
is without a doubt a resounding success.
Prepared by Edwina Richardson AAILA, 2006
<< return to project page <<
