Pedestrian scheme in Salisbury city centre underway

The People Friendly Streets Salisbury project is aiming to prioritise pedestrians and cyclists by reducing the amount of cars able to pass through.

Catherine Street, New Canal, Queen Street, Blue Boar Row, Bridge Street, High Street, Minster Street and part of Castle Street will be closed to non-permitted vehicles.

Bus gates are going to be installed which will stop unauthorised vehicles travelling through the city, while the left hand turn from Chipper Lane onto Castle Street will also be stopped.

Applications for permits to enter the "Low Traffic Zone" have been open for a week.

Anyone without one that enters the LTZ will be issued with a Penalty Charge Notice.

Cllr Bridget Wayman, Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Waste, told Greatest Hits Radio:

"We want to make the city a more attractive place to live, work, visit and shop. I think Salisbury has had a very tough time over the last couple of years and we really want to help the city recover from that and so trying to find inspiration to encourage more businesses to make it a much more attractive place to visit must all be good for the city centre.

Part of the idea is that we want to encourage people who do go into the city centre to walk or cycle and I've heard people say that they can't go shopping and you've got to use your car to do that, yes that's absolutely true but not everybody has to do a large load of shopping every day of the week so obviously there are occasions when you'll need to use a car but if there are other occasions when you can walk or cycle into the city then why not do that instead."

There are signs up around the city telling people where the LTZ is in place, as well as vehicle number plate recognition cameras to identify those allowed in restricted areas.

It's going to be fully monitored for 18 months with 47 sensors providing anonymous data on vehicle and pedestrian movements.

Salisbury MP. John Glen, has called on residents to get behind the plans:

"I only ask that we give it a fair chance by being willing to adapt our journeys but not change our routines, so that we continue to come into the city to shop, eat, work, visit and live but avoid cutting through the centre when en route to other places."

FINANCIAL BREAKDOWN

In total the project is going to cost over £2.3 million.

That's split between three different phases:

• £561,565 for phase 1

• £229,460 for phase 2, if it goes ahead

• £1,558,935 for scheme enhancements

You can see a full rundown of how that money is going to be spent, and where it has come from, here.

TRAFFIC CONCERN

Since Wiltshire Council announced the plans for this new scheme, many residents have raised concerns about what that means for traffic around the area.

Some have said that it may cause a build up of cars going around the city, and make everyone's journeys that little bit longer, especially on the A36 Southampton Road.

The council have responded by saying:

"As part of the Strategic Road Network, improvements, maintenance, operation and future planning of the A36 is the responsibility of Highways England.

Highways England has been very supportive of the scheme proposal and to assess and address significant adverse impacts to the A36, we are currently working closely with Highways England to develop comprehensive monitoring and contingency plans.

While some through traffic will inevitably be displaced onto the A36, as with many roads, flows on the A36 are currently down on their pre-COVID levels, particularly in the peak morning and evening periods.

In addition to using existing sensors, we will make use of the advanced monitoring technology provided by Vivacity Labs to monitor traffic flows and movements on the A36. This will enable us to monitor impacts on the A36 effectively in real-time and through the agreed contingency plan, make any appropriate and phased changes to the scheme/ETRO which can then be further monitored."

You can read the full plans for People Friendly Streets Salisbury by visiting the Wiltshire Council website.

HAVE YOUR SAY

The authority are still asking for comments from residents and businesses on the proposals for bus gates, no left hand turn, weight restrictions and parking and waiting order.

People can make their comments by emailing trafficorders@wiltshire.gov.uk or by completing their consultation form.

Anyone sending in their view must include their name and address, quoting reference 'HKB/TRO/SALSExp'.

We have six months to let them know what we think.

• salisbury
• Pedestrian