An artist's impression of what Lambton Quay could look like as a pedestrian mall.

It's time for Wellington to banish the buses, tear out the traffic and hand control of its main street to people on foot, a mayoral aspirant says.

Councillor Nicola Young has promised to push for Lambton Quay to be converted into a pedestrian mall, and to revisit sending State Highway 1 underground along Vivian St, if she is elected mayor in October.

With the demise of Wellington's trolley buses just around the corner, and the decommissioning of the overhead wires to follow, the time was right to discuss removing traffic altogether from the jewel in the Golden Mile, Young said.

ROSS GIBLIN/FAIRFAX NZ Lambton Quay as it looks today.

It would place Wellington alongside other "forward-thinking" cities that had restricted their main shopping areas to foot traffic, such as Sydney's Pitt St Mall and Adelaide's Rundle Mall.

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"Motor vehicles and people don't mix ... the key is that we've got to get traffic out of the CBD," she said.

SUPPLIED Councillor Nicola Young at the Pukeahu National War Memorial Park, which sits above the Arras Tunnel. She has promised to investigate a similar "cut-and-cover" tunnel for Vivian St if elected mayor.

Young's vision for Lambton Quay involves paving, more trees, street furniture, distinctive feature lighting, social spaces and no vehicle fumes.

Existing pavements were already overcrowded, and that would only get worse once the new David Jones department store opened its doors next month, she said.

The cost would depend on how lavish the city wanted it to be. But Young believed it could be done for about $20 million.

She had not examined the impact on Wellington's public transport network – about 140 buses an hour move through the Golden Mile during peak periods – but believed buses could run along Featherston St instead.

Wellington Mayor Celia Wade-Brown, who is also standing in October's elections, said pedestrians might get more space on Lambton Quay before then.

The council was looking at a trial of taking cars off the street as part of renovation on Cable Car Lane in August.

ROBERT KITCHIN/FAIRFAX NZ Wellington property tycoon Bob Jones is keen on the idea of a pedestrian mall for Lambton Quay.

A crane would be needed to lift Cable Car Lane's roof, she said, so the council would divert cars, and run buses along one side only.

It would run for a weekend, and there would be a chance for more trials later in the year.

First Retail Group managing director Chris Wilkinson said many Lambton Quay retailers already had a presence in the pedestrian malls of London, Sydney and Melbourne, and would be right in behind Young's Idea.

MAARTEN HOLL/STUFF Chris Wilkinson, managing director of First Retail Group, says retailers along Lambton Quay would be on board with the idea of a pedestrian mall.

"It's certainly the way modern cities are going ...

"Ten years ago, people would have baulked at the idea. But with the way Wellington has changed, with more people living in the CBD and supermarkets opening up there ... the time is right to think about this."

But Greater Wellington Regional Council's transport portfolio leader Paul Swain said the "horse has bolted" on a pedestrian mall for Lambton Quay, as bus contracts for the entire network were about to be re-tendered on basis that the Golden Mile would be the main route.

"Nice idea, but it won't work," he said.

Young said the time was also right to revisit the idea of trenching SH1 along Vivian St, as city leaders busy figured out what to do after the demise of the Basin Reserve flyover project.

Wellington developer Sir Bob Jones said creating pedestrian malls such as Young's proposal was "the future" for cities around the world.

The likes of Moscow were transforming themselves with large-scale projects taking cars off their streets, he said. "They are creaming it, they're going holus-bolus, doing the whole shooting block."

WHAT THE OTHER CANDIDATES SAY

Jo Coughlan: Does not support diverting vehicles away from Lambton Quay. "I want to make it easier to go shopping, not harder." Says her priority will be to secure $1 billion in Government funding for solving the Basin Reserve's congestion as well as duplicate Mt Victoria and Terrace tunnels and "four lanes to the planes" before tunneling Vivian St.

Keith Johnson: Does not support removing buses from Lambton Quay. "I think that's bonkers ... it's a natural route that a [bus] rapid transit network should take." Is open to the idea of tunnelling Vivian St but says it would need to be part of a "package" of improvements involving a rapid-transit buses, traffic calming and more cycleways.

Nick Leggett: Supports both ideas in principle, but says the city needs more than a mayoral candidate who thinks they are a traffic engineer. "Random ideas tend to divide people, what we need is an agreement on what the big picture is." Says he will come up with a plan covering all types of transport and state highways.

Justin Lester: Has already pledged to remove general traffic from Lambton Quay and some side streets but retain public transport through there. "Public transport will bring vibrancy as well as hustle and bustle to the Golden Mile." Believes a cut-and-cover tunnel for SH1 at the Basin Reserve should be a priority over Vivian St.

Celia Wade-Brown: Is already looking to trial changes to Lambton Quay to coincide with work on Cable Car Lane in August. Likes the Let's Get Wellington Moving initiative, which called for community ideas. Says Young's plans are nothing new. "I'm not quite sure if they're her ideas, or she's reading the output from Let's Get Wellington Moving."