London Inn Square Improvements Progress
Posted on: 10 May 2012
As the new John Lewis department store continues to take shape in the heart of Exeter, work on a new road layout nearby is progressing.
Works to York Road are going well well as part of a wider scheme to make the junction of Sidwell Street and New North Road, otherwise known as London Inn Square, safer and more pleasant for pedestrians. The improvements to London Inn Square will also improve the links between Sidwell Street and the High Street, helping to improve the trading environment for shops and businesses and integrating the new John Lewis store into the city centre. The scheme is a partnership between Exeter City Council and Devon County Council.
In order to finish the works, York Road will be temporarily closed to traffic on Monday 14 May for five days – opening up again on Saturday 19 May. The road will be closed from 9.30am to 4pm and 7pm to 11pm each day (Should works be delayed by bad weather the closure may be extended to include Monday 21 and Tuesday 22 May.)
In York Road the plan is to make it more pedestrian and cycle friendly by bringing in traffic calming measures including reducing the width of the road, widening of pavements and the relocation of the zebra crossing to outside of St Sidwell’s School. Raised tables will also be installed, cutting speed and making it easier for people to cross the road and its side streets. Both Councils have liaised extensively with the local community to keep them up to speed with the plans.
Once complete, traffic will also be prevented from turning right into Sidwell Street from York Road and Summerland Street, reducing traffic queues at this junction.
New North Road will be closed to southbound traffic between Longbrook Street and Sidwell Street at the end of May, following the completion of the works to York Road. At the same time Sidwell Street (between High Street and Cheeke Street) will be closed to private vehicles with access for cyclists, buses, taxis and loading vehicles only.
Following this closure, works will commence to London Inn Square. A shared surface (with no kerbs) space at the junction will improve the appearance of London Inn Square and further improve pedestrian movement. The scheme will include wider pavements, tree planting and seating, new bus shelters and a high quality taxi rank. A cycle contraflow will be provided to allow cyclists to travel from New North Road into Sidwell Street, Paris Street and the High Street. In parallel with this, King William Street car park is being upgraded, including provision of improved links to Sidwell Street.
Every day, 22,000 pedestrians and 1,000 buses cross between High Street and Sidwell Street. Over a three year period, there have been 20 collisions, 14 involving pedestrians. The scheme, will see the existing one-way traffic system in Paris Street extended into New North Road. Traffic management measures (such as improved signage) are being designed to complement the improvements at London Inn Square in order to encourage drivers (including HGVS) crossing the city to use more appropriate roads such as Bonhay Road and Western Way.
Details of the scheme and information about road closures can be found at www.exeter.gov.uk/londoninnsquare
I have real concerns about the impact of these works on the St James community and the flow of traffic from north to south in the city.
Whilst making the pavements and roads safer in the city centre is welcome these proposals involve directing more traffic along Blackall and York Road so these roads can expect to be busier. And yet the proposal for your road is to make it narrower which must in turn make it more difficult for traffic to flow well. There are also two bus stops proposed in York Road, and due to the narrowness of the roads, traffic is bound to back-up when they stop for passengers. There was an increase in accidents in Sidwell Street when traffic was prevented from travelling south along Paris Street from 2006, it will be interesting to see if this can be avoided with these proposed changes.