Does Portishead High Street need further improvements?
By thepickler | Tuesday, June 21, 2011, 14:39
A DECISION on whether to make further tweaks to Portishead's newly revamped High Street has been put on hold.
Residents and traders have written to North Somerset Council highways department suggesting a number of further improvements for the High Street, which re-opened in February following £190,000 resurfacing and drainage improvement project.
The work, which took a month to complete, included repairs to the road surface, footpaths and drainage pipes, adding raised crossing points and changing the zebra crossings and on-street parking.
But now, just four months after the work was completed, people have said they would like to see some further changes, including the provision of more disabled bays and double yellow lines in some sections.
Some traders have said they want to see additional loading bays provided while some residents have asked for parking restrictions to be introduced on some side roads.
If the changes were made, a traffic regulation order would have to be made, which can cost thousands of pounds.
Because of the cost, the local authority often waits for a number of requests to be made before consulting on them all together to save cash.
North Somerset Council has written to Portishead Town Council asking for its views on any amendments.
But town councillors have said it is too early for any changes to be introduced, saying that they need to have more time to assess whether the current scheme is working.
A spokesman for Portishead Town Council said: "Councillors felt it was too early to start changing the High Street again.
"The work to the High Street has only been completed for a few months and councillors were keen to see how that was working first.
"They did not want to assess it during the school holidays when the area is typically quieter for traffic and pedestrians so were keen to wait for the start of the new term in September.
"They have asked for a meeting with North Somerset to be deferred until September so the requests can be looked at."
The High Street was closed during the work for a month during the roadworks, prompting complaints from local businesses about the affect it would have on trade.
Comments
In my opinion the High Street is for shoppers and traders, not to let traffic drive as fast as possible. The High Street is not a through route now. so I do not agree with Womble 1971. Traffic Engineers seem obsessed wih keeping traffic moving. I think our High Street is for people to use, so more car parking space etc.
But what do others think?
By BarryW at 08:25 on 06/07/11
ReportIf I was to redesign the High Street I'd take away all of the parking except for a fee disabled bays and only allow loading and unloading before 8am and after 6pm, it's like driving through a maze and more dangerous now than before. It's about time the residents of Portishead learnt to walk a few steps rather than parking outside where they want to go, don't get me started on the subject of those parents that have to park in Halletts Way to take their children to St Peters School!
By Womble1971 at 23:04 on 05/07/11
ReportAll stopping, unloading, parking etc on the zebra zig-zags is already illegal. I saw a police car actually stop and book a motorist for this in our High Street just last week.
No need for any re-design or re-designation
By BarryW at 14:34 on 05/07/11
ReportWould be good if they could re-designate the white zig-zag markings on the zebra crossing approaches as 'no parking/stopping'. Its hard enough trying to cross at these points with Portishead's thoughtless drivers refusing to stop as it is; having parked cars and vans blocking the view of the traffic just makes it more dangerous.
By local_trot at 16:07 on 04/07/11
ReportParking is still a problem area that could be improved. At 1:30 this afternoon I could not find space to park legally to pick up prescription medicines from one of the High Street chemists. There were at least three empty disabled spaces along the High Street so more disabled bays would seem unnecessary, I appreciate that this was only a snapshot in time.
More importantly is the fact that many cars were badly parked in the bays. Two cars occupied a space that could easily hold three. Some cars that were parked nearest the end of a set of bays had 1-2 metres of unoccupied/ unusable space in front of them, I reckoned that there were at least five spaces lost to these selfish parkers. The solution to this problem would be to sub-divide the bays into individual allotted spaces.
By limawhiskey at 20:06 on 21/06/11
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