|
Your Liveable Neighbourhoods update
|
|
|
16 March 2023
We're working with 15 communities in Bath and North East Somerset to create safer, healthier and more pleasant neighbourhoods. Find out about the progress we've made ahead of a public consultation this summer.
|
|
Aims of Liveable Neighbourhoods (LN)
The aim of this community-led programme is to improve neighbourhood streets in a way that encourages active travel and provides fair and safe access to road space.
Typical improvements being brought forward by residents are:
- Better crossings on busy roads and walk-to-school routes
- Wider footways to help everyone get around
- Better cycle lanes and secure on-street bike storage
- Pleasant outdoor spaces where people can sit and meet others
- Traffic-calming measures such as speed cushions, one-way streets and narrower junctions
- Through-traffic restrictions where residential roads are used excessively by motorists as shortcuts
Improving active travel routes between homes, schools and community hubs is important because activities such as walking and wheeling can improve our health and wellbeing, and combat loneliness.
|
|
Our approach to developing LNs
This is a community-led programme where residents are invited to address the issues they face by re-imagining streetscapes. Since 2020 we have supported this process with extensive consultation and engagement, including co-design workshops with community volunteers.
|
|
Shortlists for design and consultation
Residents who took part in co-design workshops in summer 2022 were asked to prioritise what improvements they’d like to see in their streets. We’re currently shortlisting these priorities against technical criteria for each area.
As the shortlists are completed, we will publish them online and prepare draft designs for each of the 15 areas. We will seek wider public opinion on these proposals during a six-week public consultation this summer.
The following shortlists are now available. See 'Recommendations for design'.
|
|
Previews
Ahead of the public consultation this summer, we asked our designers to bring some of your proposals to life.
|
|
Southlands, Weston
Below is a ‘before and after’ impression of a proposed ramp to replace the steep steps between Southlands and the High Street. The aim is to improve access for everyone, including people pushing buggies and those with reduced mobility.
|
|
|
|
Current arrangement with steep, inaccessible steps
|
|
|
|
Artist’s impression of a proposed new ramp between Southlands and High Street to improve access
|
|
Egerton Road and Cotswold Road
Below is a ‘before and after’ impression of a proposed zebra crossing on Egerton Road, plus a raised crossing on the Cotswold Road/Chantry Mead Road junction. The aim is to improve safety and encourage walking to school.
|
|
|
|
Current arrangement
|
|
|
|
Artist’s impression of a proposed new zebra crossing and raised continuous crossing to improve safety on a walk-to-school route
|
|
A37 crossing scheme (Whitchurch)
We are fast-tracking measures to improve active travel around the A37 at Whitchurch village. This would be ahead of wider improvements in the area, subject to public consultation in the summer.
A new signalised crossing on the A37 would connect the residential areas of Whitchurch village and Queen Charlton to the popular community facilities on the other side of the carriageway, including a children’s playground, allotments, and rugby and cricket grounds. The scheme also proposes improvements to junctions, paths, footways and bus stops.
|
|
|
|
Current arrangement
|
|
|
|
Artist’s impression of a proposed new crossing, wider paths and a sheltered bus stop with real-time information
|
|
Through-traffic restriction trials
Ahead of the wider LN programme, we are currently trialling through-traffic restrictions in Southlands, Queen Charlton Lane (Whitchurch) and Church Street, Widcombe. This is an on-going public consultation for a minimum of six months.
In June, we will contact those living in the areas to complete a final, detailed survey on their experience living with the trial. We will then consider the feedback received before deciding whether to remove the restrictions or make them permanent.
|
|
Residents Parking Zones
To support our LN programme, we have worked with seven communities to create new residents parking zones (RPZs).
Five of the seven zones have now been installed. RPZs in the Walcot, Snow Hill and Claremont Road area and in Oldfield Park and Westmoreland area are scheduled for installation in June.
|
|
Next steps for the wider LN programme
- During the spring, we will continue to shortlist residents' priorities and prepare draft designs.
- In summer 2023, we will publish the draft designs for all 15 areas and ask for feedback during a six-week public consultation.
- Leaflets illustrating the proposals will be mailed to all households and businesses in the 15 areas. Events will be widely promoted.
- We will analyse the results and publish the outcomes of the consultation for each of the 15 areas.
- Detailed designs will be prepared and some measures will be subject to further, detailed consultation or trials.
It’s important that we have your feedback to ensure the proposals work for everyone in the community.
|
|
Contact us
If you'd like support, please email us at LNs@bathnes.gov.uk or call 01225 394 025 and request a call-back from a team member.
Please let us know if you need this information in easy-read or an alternative format.
|
|
|
|
