HIGHWAY planners at Warrington Borough Council have pledged to improve the appearance of unsightly traffic barriers placed outside retail premises on Sankey Street nearly two years ago, as a temporary measure at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic!
Angry business owners say their complaints have been falling on deaf ears at the town hall – but now after being contacted by Warrington Worldwide the council has pledged to act.
Local hair salon owner Stuart Callaghan, who says he has raised the issue numerous times with the council without success, said: “Despite contacting the council on numerous occasions local traders have had no success in finding out what is happening with these unsightly barriers which have been in place for nearly two years.
“We appreciate it has been a very difficult time for the council but it has also been very difficult for local businesses.
“As a result of these barriers we have lost parking facilities outside our premises and it doesn’t do much to entice people into the area and has been damaging for local businesses.
“It gives the appearance that the council has run out of money to complete the project – is this down to some of the poor investments? We would like some answers please!”
Meanwhile, Gary Pemberton from nearby Belvoir Sales & Lettings added:” I spoke to Warrington Borough Council about these barriers a while ago, and they explained that it is all to do with “The last mile” project ie, prioritising the town to walkers /cyclists and busses and pushing the cars out of the town centre as much as possible.
“The project sounds really good and I have seen images of wide pavements with nice tree etc – so in principle, I am not against the idea, what I am frustrated with is these awful barriers that have been here for nearly two years now – they look unsightly and add no value to the street.
“The council need to commit to the “Last Mile Project” ASAP or remove these barriers and re-establish the 30-minute parking spaces on Sankey Street. I did discuss this with the council a while back, but didn’t hear anything back.
“It is very Very frustrating as a local business owner.”
A Warrington Borough Council spokesperson said, “The temporary measures were introduced on Sankey Street in the summer of 2020 as part of a wider package of measures to widen footways in key locations. This aimed to enable social distancing and to encourage visitors to return to the town centre after each of the national lockdowns, imposed as a result of the COVID19 pandemic. The wider package of measures also aimed to improve conditions for pedestrians and cyclists to the town centre and to remove rat running traffic passing through the town centre using routes not meant for through traffic.
“Work is progressing on making many of these measures permanent now. However, the Sankey Street measures have remained in place pending works which are planned as part of the Warrington Town Deal’s sustainable travel programme, which aim to bring major improvements to the public realm. This programme involves progressing a re-design of key interior streets, including this part of Sankey Street, to make them safer, less car-oriented and more appealing for cyclists and pedestrians.
“The delivery of the permanent improvement works in Sankey Street will be subject to detailed design work and consultation – and now that Town Deal funding has been confirmed, this work is being progressed. However, as the delivery of these works is not programmed until 2023, we recognise that the temporary arrangements cannot stay in place for that long. We do acknowledge that now restrictions have been removed, these barriers do look unsightly.
“To that end, we plan to engage with traders in the near future through a letter drop about the proposed installation of more visually pleasing temporary measures such as timber planters, and for these to remain in place until the permanent scheme is ready for delivery. Further details of this will follow in the near future.”
Meanwhile, other town centre temporary traffic orders are set to become permanent from today, Monday, March 7 – see blow.
Temporary town centre traffic regulations set to become permanent
