Katoomba Charrette Outcomes Report - Blue Mountains City Council

Katoomba Charrette Report & Town Centre Strategy
intersections on the preceding aerial photograph of Katoomba’s Town Centre. All of these
intersection ‘barriers’ were dealt with in the Charrette (see Section 8.4).
Parke, Lurline Streets and other ‘temptations to speed’ act as barriers to pedestrian access
across and along them. Parke and Lurline Streets are quite wide; their design and contexts
induce speeding far faster than their posted speeds. Not only are their carriageways quite
wide, they also have parking restrictions along much of their lengths, which limit important
parking capacity for the Town Centre and tend to encourage cars to speed even faster. This
conditions makes these streets unpleasant and to some extent unsafe to walk or cycle along or
to cross them, and thus they act as ‘barriers’ to their being crossed.
Limited Parking in and near the Top of Town Limits Vehicular Access to It
Limited car parking in and near the Top of Town can be interpreted as a ‘barrier’, hurting its
vehicular access and business vitality. See Section 8.8.1 for Charrette proposals to address this
difficulty.
Lanes in the Town Centre
The many under-used small lanes associated with Katoomba Street often seem unsafe to
pedestrians (especially at night) and act too often as barriers to pedestrian access. The
Charrette proposed improvements to these lanes, as explained in Section 8.3.2.
4.3.5 Bypasses
Katoomba Street, the original heart of town, used to be better connected to its vicinity than it is
now. To some extent it has been bypassed, which seems to be part of its problems.
Prior to changes to the Great Western Highway in the 1980’s, traffic from Sydney followed the
alignment of the present Civic Place, crossed the railway at grade right at the station at
Katoomba Street, and then headed west on Main Street to Bathurst Road. While little can be
done now to redress this major change, the business decline of Katoomba Street may be
attributed in part to this ‘bypassing’ of the heart of town by the Great Western Highway.
Yeoman’s Bridge, which solved the perceived dangers of an at-grade vehicular railway
crossing, also bypasses Katoomba Street; most traffic now heads south along Parke Street,
especially to access the Coles and Jewels shopping centres. Much traffic heading for Echo
Point, which might in the past have taken Katoomba Street, also bypasses it via Lurline Street.
Thus, while originally Katoomba Street was the main north-south artery for town, it has now
been bypassed for most traffic, making it harder for Katoomba and Main Street businesses to
compete.
4.4 How the Public Realm Feels & Functions: Great Potential But
Tattered & Not Synergising
4.4.1 Ordinary Streetscape & Dilapidated Building Facades
Despite some recent well-intended improvements of planting and some seating, the
streetscape of the Town Centre is quite ordinary, and many of the building facades are
becoming dilapidated. This condition can reflect badly on neighbouring buildings and
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