Parking spaces on Collins Street have been removed and replaced with outdoor dining tables and new bike lanes, as the Hobart City Council begins a two-year experiment to test what works best in the CBD.
The installation is part of the “Transforming Collins Street” project, which officially launched this week following several weeks of preparation.
Sush owner David Painter is curious to see what impact the changes will have. His sushi takeaway has been operating since 2005 and now has a communal dining area right outside.
“I think it’s going to be awesome, because it’s fantastic to have tables outside our shop … a real bonus,” he said.
“Streets are just a whole lot more than a way to get from home to work and back and so I’m really pleased that the council are kind of developing the space and bringing the streets to life a little bit.”
The council has invested $340,000 in the project, with $50,000 allocated to the dining setup and $290,000 for the separated bike lanes from Molle to Murray streets and traffic management during construction.
Councillor Ryan Posselt, chair of the City Transport Committee, hopes the changes will create a “vibrant precinct” that encourages people to “linger longer” in the city centre.
“You can come and grab a coffee, a meal, sit at our tables in the sunshine, you can even bring your own lunch if you want to and hang out with your mates in what used to be car parking,” he said.
The new outdoor dining area serves 14 hospitality venues within a 50-metre radius. The council has also reduced the speed limit and installed a new pedestrian crossing as part of the broader street transformation.
Community feedback on the trial will be next gathered in about a month’s time and success, Posselt said, will hinge on increasing cycling numbers and boosting local business
“What we want to see is a diversification in riders. We want to see more women, we want to see more older people and potentially even children riding in this protected infrastructure,” he said.
“And we want to see an uplift for businesses. We’ll be testing the sentiment of businesses throughout the project … to understand how businesses are feeling about this and what sort of anecdotal observations they’ve got about trade and footfall which we know impacts on business outcomes.”
