Shortland Street and the Polka Dot Projects

Shortland Street 

The Shortland St polka dots was the first tactical urbanism project designed to tackle road safety. It was installed by the then Auckland Design Office  in 2017 in response to pedestrian safety concerns raised by Waitematā Local Board. 

Where High Street and Jean Batten Place intersect Shortland Street, a key point in the city’s laneway circuit, is a busy place to cross the road but was without a formal crossing. At the time, there was no plan to install one. A second location at the O’Connell Street intersection was also a concern. 

Formal crossing points take time and budget to establish and so an alternative was required. 

With safety in mind, it was decided to trial an unconventional method of traffic calming in the form of large polka dots painted across the intersection. This was something that could be installed quickly and cheaply. The concept behind them was to take road users by surprise, throwing in an aspect of confusion, which would make everyone slow down, become more aware of their surroundings before proceeding with caution. 

The dots had an added benefit of introducing an element of playfulness and colour to the streetscape.  

Traffic counts and site observations showed a decrease in traffic speed through the area and generally more considerate behaviour with many drivers giving way to pedestrians. Officially road traffic still had right of way but this project introduced a shift towards pedestrian priority. 

Stage Two 

The second stage of this project, which took a little longer in planning, was to install a zebra crossing which would provide that pedestrian priority and a safe crossing options for all. The zebra crossing was installed just west of High Street. Due to there being many pedestrian desire routes across the street (on the diagonal for example) it was decided to retain many of the polka dots to continue to highlight the intersection as a busy crossing area. 

“Credit where it’s due. The council has put big beige spots on Shortland St at the intersections with High St and O’Connell St and it’s all kinds of wonderful.” Simon Wilson, The SpinOff

Other Polka Dot Installations

Following on from the success of the Shortland Street project, polka dots were installed at other key locations in the city centre. 

Federal Street Contraflow Cycleway

The Federal Street project was installed to reinforce the city’s laneway circuit and provide additional cycling infrastructure. Polka dots were added at two of its intersections – Swanson Street and Wolfe Street – along with painted kerb build-outs to narrow and calm the street. The painted intersections served to highlight pedestrian and cycle crossing points. 

St Paul Street 

Polka dots were installed at the Governor Fitzroy Place intersection on St Paul Street. An area that saw a lot of vehicle manoeuvring conflicting with people crossing the road. The dots helped to slow vehicle speeds and increase driver awareness, making pedestrians feel safer while adding some fun and colour to the street. 

More dots were added further up the street to highlight an informal crossing point. This time a terracotta red colour was used, inspired by the brickwork of an adjacent building.