A street leading into Hobart’s Salamanca precinct could lose 16 parking spaces and gain around 43 trees under a council plan to make it friendlier for people on foot.
The Hobart City Council wants to change Montpelier Retreat from a “vehicle-dominated service corridor” into a “people-focused public space”.
Councillors are being asked to back the concept so it can go out for community feedback at Hobart Workshop Committee on Monday.
Montpelier Retreat connects Battery Point, Sandy Bay Road and Salamanca.
The preferred design has a gentle one-way curve at the lower end between Salamanca Place and Kirksway Place, while the upper end towards Hampden Road stays two-way.
Council documents state the curve is designed to slow traffic and nods to a former creek that once ran down into the cove.
Footpaths in the lower section would widen to at least 3.9 metres, the plans show.
The plan also adds wombat crossings to calm traffic, marks five sites for possible public art and removes three vehicle crossings the council says are duplicated or unused.
All loading bays would be kept and shifted to a kerb-less stretch of footpath.
The existing trees would be removed, with the council saying their “current location limits pedestrian movement”.
Early talks have been held privately with local landowners and businesses and the report says the response so far has been uniformly positive.
The council has set aside $50,000 for design and traffic work, though what construction will cost is yet to be worked out and the project depends on funding.
Montpelier Retreat is one of four streetscape projects in the report.
The others are an upgrade to a Macquarie Street junction in South Hobart, signal and amenity work at two Elizabeth Street intersections and a longer-term vision for Elizabeth Street.
Wider community engagement on Montpelier Retreat is pencilled in for September or October.
