There are currently 131 car parking spaces on Hutt Street, but plans presented to the Adelaide City Council’s Infrastructure and Public Works Committee last night would cut the number by more than half, to 57. 

The plans say a reduction in parking will allow for wider footpaths for outdoor dining and improved pedestrian movement. 

Other proposed changes to the street include doubling the amount of garden beds, improving street lighting and reducing the speed limit to 30km/h through the “village zone” between South Terrace and Carrington Street.

The plans say a reduced speed limit would be part of a citywide speed limit review that’s underway and is subject to approval from both the council and the Department of Transport.

Adelaide City Council trialled a 40km/h speed limit for Hutt Street in 2014 but it was not enacted following a public backlash.

A switch to reduced parallel parking bays in some areas of the street instead of the existing angle parking will also “improve road safety and reduce the dominance of parking upon street atmosphere” according to the plans. 

BEFORE:

Angle parking in front of the Hutt Street Newsagency is part of the space that’ll be upgraded under the plan. Photo: via Google Maps

AFTER: 

Renders of the new Hutt Street cycleways and widened footpaths in place of parking.

Councillor Henry Davis said the move could “potentially kill the street”. 

“I don’t think this is going to work out in favour for Hutt Street,” he said.

” I think you can have a really beautiful street, but nobody can get to the shops.” 

The plans say that main streets easily accessible by walking and cycling generally see high retail sales, quoting research from 2022 that showed pedestrians and cyclists spend more per month, especially on food, than drivers do.

“In fact, cyclists have been found to spend more per trip and to make shopping and dining trips more often than drivers,” it reads.

But Davis said he didn’t believe that cyclists contributed more to the economy, and that “you can put a bicycle wherever, you can’t put a car wherever”.

“It’s Adelaide, no one is going to be riding their bike and replacing these types of numbers, I think it’s going to be counter-intuitive to the local business owners, I think it’s going to hurt them.” 

The plans outline potential parking in surrounding streets for use instead of Hutt Street.

The plans also identified 993 on-street car parking spaces on surrounding streets within a five-minute walk of Hutt Street.  

Lord Mayor Jane Lomax-Smith said relying on surrounding street parking was not realistic. 

“What worries me is our analysis suggests there are 993 parks in the nearby streets and on the rare occasions I’ve gone through those streets [in a car] I can never find one of those,” she said. 

Lomax-Smith said there was analysis that matched parking needs to reasonable use of restaurants in the area. In 2024 so far, Milan-inspired bar Laterria and European restaurant Sofia have both opened in the area, joining Bar Torino, Chianti and more dining options on the street. 

“My sense is that Hutt Street has a lot more restaurants now than it used to have, not just Latteria but all sorts of things are popping up and it’s actually more of a night-time economy,” she said.  

“I’m not sure that anybody is going to walk from Glen Osmond Road to Chianti.

“I just think in Adelaide that’s not going to work.” 

Lomax-Smith said she would be interested to know if the road could be narrowed, reducing traffic while retaining car parks. 

Proposed view looking north along Hutt Street near Davaar Place. Photo: City of Adelaide

Deputy Lord Mayor Keiran Snape favoured achieving bike lanes while keeping angle parking and plenty of greening. 

“I know there’s a need for disability access parking, there’s a lot of older folk there as well, there is a need for parking in that area,” he said. 

“However I think we can have our cake and eat it too, I think we can have a separated bikeway, angular parking and greening but we need to drop from two lanes down to one to accommodate that, I think we can accomplish all that.”

Instead of approving the plans at this stage, the committee voted to review them with a particular focus on the provision of car parking spaces.

$1.25 million has been allocated in this year’s council budget to develop the design of the upgraded Hutt Street. A more detailed design will be released for public consultation before works can begin, with a total project budget of $12.5 million. 

Hutt Street is one of five main streets receiving an upgrade through the council’s Mainstreet Revitalisation Program, along with Gouger, Hindley, O’Connell and Melbourne Streets. 

The council has also received $3 million from the state government to implement the Hutt Street Entry Statement project, which improves the entrance into Hutt Street from the park lands.

The proposed view on Hutt Road towards the north incorporates public artwork. Photo: City of Adelaide

The Entry Statement project involves planting trees, new footpaths and a push button crossing for cyclists and pedestrians.

The proposed view on Hutt Road at Park Lands Trail towards the north with a new Bicycle and Pedestrian Actuated Crossing. Photo: City of Adelaide