Vehicles will be banned from part of a downtown Queenstown street starting today.
For the next eight months, a 100m stretch of Beach St between Camp St and Cow Lane will be closed to vehicles every day from 10am to 5am, with only service and delivery vehicles able to use the road during the remaining five hours.
The Queenstown Lakes District Council approved the pedestrianisation trial in December, but postponed its start by three weeks after some affected businesses told councillors they needed more time to prepare.
Bidvest Foodservice assistant manager Mike Byers told the meeting's public forum the trial was "ad hoc, ill-conceived and not thoroughly thought through''.
However, speaking to the Otago Daily Times yesterday, Mr Byers said the additional time had been helpful and the company now supported the trial.
"We've adjusted our business to meet the logistics of it, and we're looking forward to seeing what the outcome is.''
"It's definitely got some merits to it; it's just how it's managed.''
DowntownQT town centre manager Steve Wilde, who represents an alliance of downtown business operators, said the trial was meant to start yesterday, but was postponed for another day to allow new road markings in Cow Lane to dry where five 15-minute car parks were being converted to a loading zone for service and delivery vehicles.
Mr Wilde said apart from new pop-up bollards at either end of the no-vehicle zone, the public would notice little change at first.
Some of the street's restaurants were planning to extend their tables and chairs further into the carriageway, but there would be no changes to "hard streetscaping'' during the trial.
"We're just going to take little steps and see how it feels, and that includes the wider issue of how it affects transport.
"If we suddenly found there was chaos in the streets, and cars clogged and Cow Lane became a nightmare, then it could be pulled immediately.''
The Winery owner Rick Nelson said he and a group of Beach St restaurateurs were discussing ways of creating a "cohesive streetscape'' through the use of uniform colours in their street furniture.
"The idea is to make it a destination and a precinct in its own right and to bring more people into the area.''
The group was discussing a proposed layout for outdoor seating and dining with the council, and if the trial became permanent, wanted to "hit the ground running'' next summer.
