B&NES Council is acting upon comments about the trial one-way system on Keynsham High Street, with measures including improved signage for motorists and advertising available parking spaces.
In addition, the Council has made it clear that it will be the local community who will have the final say over whether or not the one-way system should become a permanent feature.
The Keynsham one way scheme is a project that is being trialled to ease the traffic in the High Street and make the street more pedestrian and shopper friendly as part of a wider regeneration initiative to support the town.
Local traders, Keynsham Town Council and local Councillors have all been involved in the development of the trial.
The idea of implementing a one-way system on the High Street is something which has been discussed by people in Keynsham for many years, and formed part of the Keynsham Transport Strategy which the Council consulted residents upon and adopted in 2015.
Before committing to a full permanent change in the road layout the Council wanted to run the scheme for a number of months, monitor the impact and ask residents and businesses of the town for their views.
There will be opportunities in the coming weeks for local people to feedback their suggestions face to face with Council officers.
The first of these will happen this week, when officers from the Council’s Economic Development and Transport teams meet with local traders. The local community will have the final say over whether or not the one-way system should stay.
Councillor Anthony Clarke (Conservative, Lansdown), Cabinet Member for Transport, said: “Since this trial scheme started we have been listening to all of the comments made by residents and traders, and we are taking steps to try and address many of the concerns which have been raised.
“In particular, we are keen to ensure the scheme is safe for all road users and encourages greater footfall onto the High Street in order to support the many local businesses in the town.
“The need to improve the shopping environment and support the High Street are some of the main reasons a one-way system has been talked about for many years, so we need to make sure it is fulfilling this objective.
“Clearly any new traffic layout can take time to get used to, but equally we have to balance this with the immediate needs of the local community.
“We are therefore taking a series of actions in response to the concerns raised, such as improved signage for motorists, better awareness of the parking that is available in the town, and discussing with traders what more can be done to encourage people to use the High Street.
A key message we want to send out is that Keynsham is fully open for business.
“There will be further opportunities for residents to give their feedback in the coming weeks, and ultimately it will be for the Keynsham community to decide whether or not to make this system permanent.”
The Council has already improved the Charlton Road crossing by adding a signal and created an off road bus layby in Ashton Way to help traffic flow.
Following the issues raised by local residents and businesses we are also intending to:
- Introduce more advance route signage to better direct motorists and avoid drivers using other roads unnecessarily.
- Improve awareness of the location of 700 off street parking spaces in Keynsham town centre through improved signage to increase footfall.
- Meet the residents and businesses face to face to discuss all of these issues within the coming weeks
- Make all the traffic monitoring data available so residents can assess for themselves the effectiveness of the trial scheme.
The Council is monitoring the impact of these steps and will take further action if needed during the trial to support residents and the local business community.
For more details of the trial, visit the project webpage at www.bathnes.gov.uk/keynsham.