City of Darwin: $3m facelift for Smith St, Darwin City confirmed, targeting June ‘25 completion
The City of Darwin is set to introduce more greenery and pedestrian crossings, new street furniture and public art, and dedicated bicycle/e-scooter lanes after a $3m project was given the green light – but questions remain.
Northern Territory
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The City of Darwin has hit go on its $3 million beautification of Smith St in the CBD, with more greenery and pedestrian crossings, new street furniture and public art, and dedicated bicycle/e-scooter lanes as part of the upgrades.
However, the council has baulked at plans to update the rainbow intersection of Smith and Knuckey streets to include a new “inclusive” Pride Flag, with councillors commissioning a report rather than commit to that aspect of the project as proposed by the deputy mayor.
The Smith Street Streetscape project, funded by the NT Government under the Darwin City Deal but led by the council, is expected to commence construction in March next year and be completed by June.
The project will be contained within the section of Smith St between Knuckey and Whitfield streets.
Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis said the Smith Street Streetscape project would create a cooler, greener and more dynamic hub with enhanced pedestrian experience.
“We undertook significant community engagement for this project, and taking feedback into consideration, the council has endorsed proceeding to the construction phase,” Mr Vatskalis said.
“The final design will see the street receive a significant facelift through additional greening, improved pedestrian and active transport access, and enhancements made to amenity.
“In addition to more trees being planted, we will also install micro mobility lanes, make upgrades to infrastructure including adding more pedestrian crossings [and] installing street furniture.
“There will also be public art opportunities.
“Once the tender for construction phase is awarded and the design is finalised, we will share more details and exciting announcements, at this stage expected for early 2025.”
However, bizarrely, despite Darwinites being asked to help shape the project via a consultation phase (which resulted in a 569-page engagement report being sent to councillors), they are not allowed to see exactly what their taxpayer dollars are buying – the report is being kept secret.
Deliberations on progressing the Smith Street Streetscape project were held in a closed council session on November 26.
From the text of the publicly available motions and resolutions, it appears there was significant debate regarding the future of the rainbow crossing at the intersection of Knuckey and Smith streets.
The original motion, moved by Deputy Mayor Sam Weston and seconded by Councillor Ed Smelt, resolved in part: “That Council approve the rainbow markings at the Knuckey Street intersection to be renewed and updated to the ‘Inclusive Progress Pride Flag’.”
The inclusive flag contains the traditional LGBT rainbow, but also includes elements of the flags representing other sexualities and identities (i.e. intersex, asexual).
However, this motion was not successful.
The resolution was ultimately changed to say: “That a report be returned to Council with further information on maintenance, ongoing costs and product for the Inclusive Progress Pride Flag.”
The crossing was installed for Top End Pride 2017, reportedly at a cost of $12,000.
It was maintained for a year then allowed to gradually fade.
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