Maintained by | Wellington City Council |
---|---|
Length | 300 m (980 ft) |
Location | Pipitea, Wellington |
Coordinates | 41°16′49″S 174°46′40″E / 41.28038523587319°S 174.7777125242694°E |
South end | Customhouse/Waterloo Quay |
North end | Lambton Quay |
Whitmore Street is at the boundary of the central business district and the government buildings area of Wellington, New Zealand's capital. The street runs almost north-south and is one of those linking Lambton Quay, Wellington's main shopping street, with Stout Street, Featherston Street and the harbourside at Customhouse/ Waterloo Quay. It is in the suburb of Pipitea.
Most of the buildings don't have their main entrance on Whitmore St and the largest two are in brutalist style, but the northern part of the street is in the Stout St heritage area.[1] Trees were added to the street in 1899[2] and three pohutukawas are now listed as heritage trees.[3] Asphalt chambers were added in 1897,[4] footpaths in 1904[5] and the street first had mechanised paving laid in 1939.[6] The view down Whitmore St is protected as a viewshaft.[7]
All the streets in the area, except Customhouse/Waterloo Quay have had a 30 km/h (19 mph)[8] speed limit since 19 July 2020.[9]
In 2017 over 13,000 pedestrians a day were on Whitmore St and up to 41,000 crossed it,[10] mostly to and from the railway station,[11] some 4,180 of them in the morning peak. Average daily traffic was about 17,800 vehicles a day.[12] Between 2012 and 2017 there were 25 crashes,[13] but from 2000 to 2022 there were 47 crashes at the junction with Lambton Quay, 20 at Stout St, 53 at Featherston St and 35 at Waterloo Quay.[14] In 2018 changes were made to remove 7 car parks to improve traffic flow and safety[12] and in 2021 crossing times for pedestrians were improved.[15] In 2016 a light pole fell across the street, possibly due to earthquake damage.[16]