Plans to dramatically change the bus routes and pedestrian areas around Old Town have now been scrapped, following strong opposition submitted by residents.
The Council’s plans had included changes would have included a new shared space crossings similar to the crossing in Regent Circus. This was proposed for Victoria Road outside the Post Office, Devizes Road outside Los Gatos and the High Street outside the Co-op. It also included buses using Wood Street and narrowing carriageways and widening pavements.
The public consultation for these changes showed that there was little support for the proposals involving the core Old Town area and the Council therefore took the decision not to go ahead with the changes.
Councillor Nadine Watts had previously urged residents to take part in the Council’s consultation on these proposed changes.
Old Town Councillor, Nadine Watts, said
“I believe this was the right decision at this time. I am pleased that people took the time to take part in the consultation and their views were listened to. Local residents and businesses expressed concerns over the proposed new bus route in Wood Street and also the removal of some of the pedestrian crossings.
Old Town is changing with the rest of Marlborough Park being built out, as well as the likelihood of new planning applications on the Adver site and Corn Exchange. Although it is disappointing that Old Town will not benefit from this funding, I am sure there will be other projects that can be applied for in the future.”
Eastcott Councillor, Paul Dixon, said:
“I welcome the decision to not go ahead with the Council’s proposed changes. Some of the alterations the Council had proposed were quite interesting, but the changes would have caused more traffic and some new dangerous crossings.
I hope the Council will look at this again in the future as Old Town will be changing in the coming years and it would be good to have a plan on how its public realm and road network will cope with these changes.”
