Hamilton’s first shared zone is open

The first shared zone in Hamilton opened in the central city today with spectators and councillors braving wet weather.

The Worley Place shared zone, part of Hamilton’s CityHeart project, connects Worley Pl to Alexandra St, enabling traffic to travel slowly both ways through this area.

The shared zone allows pedestrians the priority ahead of vehicles, including cyclists and motorcycles using the new space.

Traffic is required to travel at low speeds and give way to pedestrians as there are no traditional traffic indications, such as kerbs.

The opening of the Worley Place shared zone marked the conclusion of the CityHeart project.

Other developments included the upgrading of Victoria St, Garden Place, Ward St, Worley Pl and the Garden Place car park over the past few years.

Mayor Julie Hardaker said shared zones were part of several other New Zealand cities.

“I’d like to thank businesses and the public for their patience as we’ve worked through the various stages of this big project over a number of years,” Mayor Hardaker said.

“The work is now finished and it is great to see how good Garden Place and the rest of the central city are looking.”

The opening of the shared zone also coincided with the alteration of Ward St between Worley Pl and Victoria St which has seen the road converted into two-way.

To help drivers adjust to the new designs, temporary traffic management and electronic signage will be in place and announcements will be made through daily traffic reports.

The official opening allowed spectators to view a demonstration of the shared zone in action with vehicles using the new layout.