Options for changes to the planned A591 junction improvement and Windermere Town Centre enhancement scheme will go on display at the Marchesi Centre in the town on July 16th between 4pm and 7pm.
Cumbria County Council has reviewed the design for the planned junction improvement and environmental scheme for Windermere Town Centre following a public meeting and a day-long display of existing plans on June 14th attended by around 400 people.
Additional options are now being assessed to see how they will affect the vehicle/pedestrian conflict issue and the operating of the junction. The move follows consultations at which Cumbria County Council listened to concerns from some residents and businesses about original proposals to use High Street as a way in to Windermere and Elleray Road as a way out controlled by a traffic lights at its junction with the A591.
The plan was designed to remove confusion at the High Street junction, improve the street scene and environment and deal with the lack of safe pedestrian crossing facilities as recognised in both the Windermere Area Action Plan in 1999 / 2000 and the more recent Windermere and Bowness Masterplan in 2005.
The original scheme was designed to improve the environment for pedestrians and make the High Street junction safer rather than to increase its traffic capacity and complies with Cumbria's Local Transport Plan which states that no schemes should seek to increase traffic flows within the Lake District National Park.
The Windermere Masterplan Steering Group - chaired by Cumbria Tourism and including Cumbria County Council, South Lakeland Development Trust, Lake District National Park Authority, North West Development Agency and Cumbria Vision - considers the original scheme to be the best way to achieve those aims. However, the steering group also accepts that there is little local support for the scheme and is willing to consider a compromise solution which may not achieve all the goals, but which may prove more acceptable to residents and the business community.
The group have therefore agreed that a number of options which retain the current traffic arrangements should also be considered. Retaining the current traffic system means that traffic signals at the junction of Elleray Road and A591 will not be required. However, introducing a scheme that makes only modest adjustments will deliver fewer benefits.
The options now being re-assessed are:
- Junction improvements at High Street and traffic signals at Elleray Road.
- Do Nothing.
- Build a large roundabout at High Street.
- Build a mini roundabout at High Street.
- Junction improvements at High Street.
Options assessed as viable will be presented as part of the new public display planned for July 16th at The Marchesi Centre.
Joan Stocker, county councillor for Windermere and deputy leader of the council, said: "We have listened to what people have told us and we are trying to be flexible and reassessing the options for tackling the issues. From the start this has been about bringing improvements to Windermere town and making the difficult junction at High Street safer and more attractive. The scheme that has been designed achieves all that, but it seems many people are adamant they don't want traffic lights installed. It is only right that they should have a say in what happens in the town - we are listening to them and we will look again at what might be possible. But people should be aware that a compromise scheme will mean compromising on some of the benefits we aimed for with the original scheme."
In response to vocal concerns from local residents and businesses, revisions have also been proposed to the design of improvements to Crescent Road which the steering group believes address most of the concerns raised. These revisions ensure that the existing levels of on-street parking and loading will be maintained and will also deliver improvements in pedestrian safety and appearance.
Detailed assessments of options for the A591 junctions, as well as the revised design layout for Crescent Road, will go on display at the second public exhibition at the Marchesi Centre on 16th July between 4.00pm and 7.00pm.
A final decision on this scheme is due to be made by Cumbria County Council's South Lakeland Local Committee at its meeting in County Hall, Kendal, on 31st July 2007 in order to enable construction, if approved, to be completed within the current financial year.
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