As the completion of the West Quay pedestrianisation scheme approaches, residents and traders alike are concerned at County plans which show two way traffic on what many had assumed to be a one way street.

County Engineer Steve Gooding who took over the project in June of this year has confirmed the plan is to open the Car Park as a two way thoroughfare and rely on the existing on street parking provision as a traffic calming measure.

Westover councillor Brian Smedley said, “Residents are not happy about this proposal as the road is clearly only large enough for a single line of traffic between parked cars and the pavement. With increased encouragement for pedestrian use there will be competition for space in a limited area and pedestrians and cars obviously don’t mix. To suggest that the line of parked, parking and exiting cars will provide a traffic calming measure is odd in the light of the experience at the other end of this through route -Castle Moat, where a similar situation and in a wider road , often encourages traffic to mount the pavement. We need the on street parking as previously existed as one of the aims is to make West Quay accessible to shoppers and we support the opening up of the Car Park access but this was always presented as an ‘exit route’ – even on county maps as recent as March this year when the scheme was approved. Residents would be happier with an entrance route via Castle Street and an exit via the car park.”

The West Quay works should be completed by the end of October (or maybe November….) and comments and views are now urgently sought.