Friday 8 November 2013

An Inspector Calls: Steps towards a pedestrian-friendly Brighton Old Town

    blog old town photo bhcc_thumb[5]

    The Inspector who presided over the Public Enquiry into a scheme proposed by Brighton and Hove City Council to make Brighton Old Town more human-friendly with a series of restrictions on motorised traffic has published his findings. The full Report is available here. The following summary is taken from the BHCC website:

    “The Proposals

    Following consultation, the council proposed to implement the following measures:
    East Street to be closed to traffic between 11am and 7pm each day.
    The section of Ship Street between North Street and Duke Street to be closed to traffic from 11am each day.
    The section of Prince Albert Street between Ship Street and Black Lion Street to be permanently closed to traffic.
    Access to Boyce's Street limited only to those vehicles accessing property on the street.
    Public Inquiry

    The proposals were the subject of a public inquiry in July 2013, following objections to some of the proposed traffic orders.

    After hearing evidence from council officers, residents, businesses, and pedestrian charities, the Inspector supported the proposals to close the northern-most section of Ship Street.  He agreed with council officers that closing the stretch of road will dramatically reduce the amount of traffic in the area - a key objective of the project.

    The inspector also supported the proposal for an HGV ban after 11am. This was put forward by many local businesses who told the council that HGVs ruined the character of the area.

    The Inspector agreed that proposals to close the middle part of East Street to all traffic between 11am and 7pm each day would help pedestrians and businesses however he highlighted some potential safety issues concerning redirected traffic on Little East Street.  Officers will look again at Little East Street to determine an alternative design for the road that will resolve these issues.  Plans to close a section of Prince Albert Street will also be looked at again once the impact of other measures in the Old Town have been assessed.

    A proposal to close Boyce’s Street to through traffic, supported by businesses, residents and Middle Street School, was agreed before the public inquiry and will go ahead as planned.

    Implementation of the Ship Street/North Street junction element is scheduled to start in early 2014.”

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