Bid to alleviate Castle Street's traffic problems

Town councillor Phil Thane outlines a bid to counter traffic problems in Castle Street …

 

* Traffic conditions in Castle Street are chaotic, according to Cllr Phil Thane.

“Everyone grumbles about Castle Street.

Drivers in a hurry to get through would like all parking banned, pedestrians would like safe crossings, shopkeepers need to load and unload and want more parking for their customers, tourists want a pleasant place to stroll.

At the moment we have the worst of all possible solutions, some legal parking, some illegal parking, double yellows down one side giving motorists the illusion of a clear road - until they meet a large vehicle coming the other way, and pedestrians running the gauntlet.

The only good thing is that it's so chaotic the traffic is usually slow and there haven't been any serious accidents.

We, Llangollen Town Council and Cittaslow Llangollen, think it could be better, but it needs a new vision not just the county council putting down some more paint and harrassing shopkeepers.

We are not experts though, so we'd like to call in someone who is. Hamilton Baillie Associates are the traffic management specialists who designed the ground-breaking scheme in Poynton, Cheshire. Poynton's problems were much worse than ours in Llangollen, and they've been fixed. There's a great video here that shows what can be achieved.

A full feasibility study will cost more than £10,000, but Ben Hamilton Baillie has offered to do a brief one day survey followed by a public meeting to explain the latest thinking about how to handle traffic in towns. To pay Ben, and set up a meeting in the Town Hall we need a nice round £1,000.

The town council budget is tiny, and tight, so we're asking the community to get behind this. Instead of grumbling about Castle Street this is your chance to do something about it.

If you've ever struggled to cross with kids, if you're a bit slow yourself these days, if you've incurred parking fines or been stuck in traffic, pledge a fiver (or more) and together we'll do something about it.”

* To support the plan go to: http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/people-traffic-in-llan