The Narrabri community will next week have the opportunity to express its views and hear information on an issue which has occupied the thoughts of many for many years - the proposed Maitland Street lighting and a new CBD streetscape.
A public meeting has been convened by the council at The Crossing Theatre at 6.30 on Wednesday, February 18, to gather input on proposed changes to the main street. The council and Chamber of Commerce have urged people to attend.
The changes to the main street are part of the CBD Masterplan which encompasses Tibbereena Street and Barwon Streets. However, the council focus is on the three options presented for the three CBD blocks.
The results of a survey mailed to residents, and the public meeting outcome, will inform a decision on the lights at the March council meeting.
The following is an outline of council's proposal:
The proposal to upgrade the Narrabri CBD precinct with new lighting complying with relevant Australian Standards and additional shade to make the CBD environment more attractive to customers to stay longer and shop locally has been on the agenda for a considerable time.
The proposal commenced with the commissioning of a CBD master plan to guide future planning and staged upgrading of Narrabri’s core shopping precinct.
The CBD master plan adopted in late 2013 by Council after considerable community input contained very strong messages from the community for more parking, more shade from trees and better lighting.
To address these issues the plan contained provision for trees down the centre of Maitland Street in 2.5m (now reduced to 2m) wide islands, lights on footpaths close to the kerb and no loss of parking after a centre parking arrangement was rejected by the community.
Council identified that the lighting proposed for the CBD had to meet the luminance levels for footpaths and roadways to mitigate potential legal issues that may arise with non-compliant lighting.
Work performed by a lighting consultant identified that placing lights on the footpath would not be practical due to the presence of shop awnings which had the effect of preventing lighting levels from being able to be met on footpaths and forced some lights to be placed on road shoulders causing impacts on parking and a non-uniform appearance with some lights on the footpath and others on the road.
As a result Council decided in June 2014 to install the lighting in the proposed centre medium strip proposed to contain the new trees.
This approach was seen as the most effective means of achieving the master plan objectives and providing complying lighting to both the footpaths and the road.
Council further considered reports relating to the type of lighting to be installed and has since resolved to seek community input through the survey which has been mailed to residents of Narrabri’s postal area.
A public meeting will be held next Wednesday, February 18, commencing at 6.30pm at the Crossing Theatre. Council identified the following three options for community input with each option having consequences that are both positive and negative:
Option 1 – Install Lights and Trees in 2m Centre Median:
This option would involve removal of existing light poles and construction of a 2m wide centre median with lighting and trees.
This option meets Australian Standard for lighting and provides trees without loss of car parking.
Available travel lane width on each side of roadway is reduced by 887mm.
This option is the only one to meet the Master plan objectives.
A similar configuration has been successfully achieved in Goondiwindi, Casino and other larger towns with more traffic volume.
Option 2 – Footpath and adjacent kerb on roadway location:
This option would involve placing some light poles on the footpath at least 600mm back from the kerb and some poles at least 600mm out on the roadway in locations where shop awnings project to the kerb.
This is because the awnings along the main street allow for limited placement on the actual footpath.
This option does not allow for any tree placement to achieve the objectives of the adopted Master plan.
This option will require approximately 16 car parking spaces to be affected with protection of new poles on the road shoulder required.
There would be minimal disruption to existing traffic and street infrastructure, however there would be an impact on visual aesthetic with misaligned/staggered location of the poles alternating between footpath and roadway.
Option 3 – Existing location on Road Shoulder:
This option would involve replacing the existing lights in current locations supplemented by additional lights to meet Australian Standard lighting levels.
This option will require the light poles to be protected by extending the kerb out around the pole to stop car damage and this will result in approximately 30 car-parking spaces being affected or removed.
This option does not allow for any tree placement to achieve the objectives of the Master plan.
There would be a cheaper total project cost.
Since the proposals have been circulating in the community Council staff have fielded questions relating to a perceived safety risk and impact on traffic flow in reducing the available distance for vehicles to reverse before entering the traffic lane due to the nose in parking arrangements currently used in Narrabri.
Responses have been provided with the following points noted:
1.The traffic lane will be reduced by only 887mm on each side which will still allow sufficient room for a reversing vehicle to be clearly visible to oncoming vehicles to stop with the low speeds being travelled.
2.There is a high proportion of existing reversing traffic that enters the traffic lane for various reasons without major impact on safety due to drivers being aware of the need to frequently stop.
3.Other towns such as Goondiwindi and Casino have nose in parking, centre islands and less distance from the back of the parked cars to the traffic lane than the Narrabri proposal and those Council’s report no increases in accidents in their CBD areas.
The results of the surveys (available online at www.narrabri.nsw.gov.au posted to residents and available at the drop off points) , the public meeting and previous professional advice from traffic engineers and lighting experts will be collated and reported to the March Council meeting to allow Council to make a final decision on the most effective way to achieve the master plan objectives previously indentified.