Retired traffic consultant Paul Wreyford has been a key expert assisting the four RAs concerned with the impacts of the Whitehouse Farm development. He has over forty years of detailed highway and transport design and construction experience, and assessing developers highway designs has been a major part of this.
Following the approval of the outline plan for the development, Paul is now preparing to consider the more detailed design proposals that should be coming from the developers.
The question of the the Westgate Cycle Path can now be further discussed
This is not an easy task because if on-street parking is to remain in the narrow eastern section of Westgate, then it is not possible to provide an acceptable width of segregated cycleway. As you may know as workshop was held on this issue in October where some options were submitted.
Paul’s personal preferred option is to close the western end of this narrow section of eastern Westgate, opposite Mercer and just west of Mount Lane. Not only would this provide for safe cycling throughout; it would also return this section of an historic Chichester street to its former glory.
Another benefit is that it would stop some of the rat-running along Westgate and Parklands and have a net benefit in effectively isolating Westgate and Parklands as self-contained residential areas. Local streets for local people.
However, some residents in Parklands and Westgate may not like the Westgate section closed to vehicular traffic. They would be forced to drive up to the College/Via Ravenna/Cathedral way roundabout and use Via Ravenna to get to their destination in town. But that is what these roads were originally designed for, so why are we making this existing potentially short journey in the first place?
It seems pretty obvious that with a road closure in Westgate there is greater opportunity for continued provision of a safe bus and cycling route.
Wishful thinking, radical and contentious maybe, but it is going to need something radical to succeed. If we could just see the bigger picture, is there not here an opportunity and a vision for improving the local community environment?
Thinking caps on everyone!
