Featherston Street and Southwest Te Aro

About the route

Featherston Street is a critical link in the city’s transport network and is the most direct route between the city centre, Golden Mile, and the Wellington Railway Station (and beyond).  High numbers of people walk and ride bikes along this route. Featherston, Victoria, and Dixon Streets are also heavily used by private cars, which means people walking and riding bikes compete for space - both with moving and parked cars. 

The work we are doing

So much traffic in this narrow space makes it feel unsafe for people walking and riding bikes, so we are exploring changes to the road layout that will make it safer for all those using the road and footpath. The work we are planning will tie in with changes planned for the Golden Mile, the Greater Wellington Regional Council and Wellington City Council public transport and cycling projects, and in the longer term, the introduction of Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) to Wellington. 

There is also the opportunity to improve cycling and walking in Featherston Street (between Bunny and Hunter Streets), along Victoria Street as far as Webb Street – as well as on Dixon Street between Victoria and Taranaki Streets.  We also think there are opportunities to improve the experience for people who walk along and across Ghuznee and Dixon Streets, to keep them safe. 

As this is a popular and busy bus route, we are also looking at improving travel by bus on Victoria and Willis Streets between the bottom of Lambton Quay and the start of the Brooklyn Hill. We think there are also some changes that could be made on Ghuznee Street to make bus journeys more efficient. 

Opening streets up to make them safer and more accessible for buses, cars, and bikes may mean  removing some on-street parking, so we need to understand the implications of that. We have ideas about how to minimise impacts to businesses and are working with the Wellington City Council on a parking management plan that includes business and operations in the area. 

Our aim is to balance the needs of all those using the space now and into the future, to help keep traffic flowing for buses, deliveries, and people who need to drive, as well as those who walk or ride a bike. 

What happens next?

We will gather feedback from your community and other Wellingtonians, document it and share it with you, so you can see what we have heard and how others experience the walking and transport routes in your area. We will make it available here, on our site, or you can sign up for updates.
 
We will also make the information we have gathered available to the teams working on designs to improve how people walk, bus and use their car or bike through the high-traffic route in your area. It will be a key consideration as they develop the design, which we plan to share next year, ahead of construction starting.