Traffic Calming Road Mural

A temporary road mural, consisting of pink and blue triangles was created outside the Palmerston North Convention Centre ahead of the national 2Walk&Cycle conference 2018. The mural was a way of testing out whether signalling a more pedestrian-oriented space through creative paintings would slow traffic down or make it easier for pedestrians to cross the road.  

Inspired by the City Repair Intersection Painting programme in Portland, Oregon, this project was designed to be easy to implement by neighbourhoods as a placemaking tool in the future. Previous road murals in Raleigh Street and Queen Street have been successful, but have required some level of technical application that limit how easy it is for the community to implement themselves.  

The road was closed early on Saturday morning (12am - 6am) 21 July, 2018, with approximately eight Palmerston North City Council staff painting the mural. Passers-by were able to join in on the painting, with positive feedback from many.  

The blue represents the Convention Centre, and pink represents the cherry blossoms on George Street, so the design represents the joining up of both sides of the street.  

Photograph taken from the first floor of the Palmerston North City Library, looking down onto Main Street. In the background can be seen the Conference and Function Centre.