Briefing Paper for City Centre Task and Finish Wards: St Panel Andrews and Docklands 10 September 2018 Early Evening / Night Time Economy in the City Centre – Briefing Paper 2 Briefing Paper of the Director of Regeneration 1. Purpose of the Paper and Summary This paper provides information on and about the early evening/ night time economy in the city centre. The growth in city centre activities resulting from recent Council-led investment provides scope to further improve and diversify the early evening/ night time economy across the whole of the city centre. Information is provided on the objectives for the City Centre Task and Finish Panel, as agreed by the Council, to assist member investigations into how the city centre can become more vibrant after 5pm. 2. Analysis of city centre connectivity 2.1 Local Transport Plan The Council’s Local Transport Plan (LTP) sets out the vision and aims for transport in Hull and also sets the transport priorities for the Local Plan. The LTP’s vision is “to provide and develop a safe and efficient transport system that contributes to the social, environmental and economic wellbeing of the residents, businesses and visitors to the city.” The LTP aims to have a city committed to a low carbon future, which has a transport network and mobility culture that positively contributes to a thriving economy and the health and wellbeing of its citizens, and where sustainable travel is the option of choice The continued dominance of the car, often at the expense of other transport modes, presents a major challenge to transport planning in Hull. The transport system in Hull has greatly improved in recent years, benefitting from the opening of the Paragon Author: CL/AS Status: Final Date: 04/09/2018 Page 1 of 33 Interchange and bus lane enforcement. However, the city has also experienced a rise in traffic levels. Traffic and congestion continue to be a problem, but the scope for increasing road capacity further is limited, in most cases, by physical and environmental constraints. Levels of pollution from vehicle emissions have led to an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) being declared for part of the city centre However, the city is fortunate in having many advantages, such as a compact urban area and flat terrain, enabling sustainable travel to be a realistic option for a large proportion of its residents 2.2 New roads and road improvements in the city centre The A63 Castle Street Improvement Scheme will help to reduce congestion as well as improve access to the Port and connectivity between the city centre and waterfront area. In fact, transport schemes can have a potentially positive impact in sustainability terms. The A63 improvement scheme is expected in the long term to reduce air pollution, and the provision of any footbridge, new walkways and cycleways should help promote healthier and safer lifestyles Within the city centre, three sides of a dual carriageway orbital box of roads (Castle Street, Ferensway, and Freetown Way) already exist. The proposed Great Union Street Improvement Scheme to the east of the city centre would complete the eastern leg of the orbital box. This scheme would help improve vehicular circulation around the city centre. The scheme is identified in the Council's Transport Improvement Programme but has no committed funding and no detailed design has yet been undertaken. In the current funding climate this improvement scheme is unlikely to be progressed in the early plan period although all funding opportunities will be investigated 2.3 Car parking provision within the city centre The Local Plan needs to ensure that sufficient car parking spaces are provided in the city centre and there should be replacement provision if spaces are lost to development. City centre car park provision has changed considerably over the last twenty years. Some sites have been built on and there are now more privately operated and temporary car parks. Car parking of a suitable type, amount, quality, and location is vital for Hull city centre to function properly In order to ensure that the city centre has appropriate car parking provision during the plan period, the Council will monitor the type, amount, quality and location of car parking on a regular basis. The results of monitoring will help assess the robustness of the city centre car parking policy and thereby inform decisions on future car parking proposals Hull must compete as a shopping and leisure attraction with other towns and cities, and with out-of-town retail developments. An appropriate supply of short stay car parking spaces for visitors in the city centre is therefore needed to assist its vitality and viability by attracting customers. Permanent short stay car parks need to be protected from development to provide an adequate supply of car parking and to assist the prosperity of the city centre. If any of these car parks are considered for development, it is important that they are replaced either on site, or in a location of at least equal Author: CL/AS Status: Final Date: 04/09/2018 Page 2 of 33 benefit to users, and that the provision of short stay spaces remains at the current level There is expected to be a growing need to provide electric vehicle charging infrastructure in public places, both on-street and in car parks, as well as at commercial and industrial premises and residential dwellings. The existing electric vehicle infrastructure in the city has 21 available charging points within car parks at: George Street (16); St Stephen's (2); The Deep (2); and on Priory Park (1). Further points are currently being planned for: Bond Street car park (2); Pryme Street multi- storey car park (4); and upgrading of 4 points at George Street car park 2.3 Park and ride sites The Park and ride is a means of overcoming city centre and possibly port parking and traffic flow problems, and relieving traffic congestion with associated air pollution problems. The Local Transport Plan (LTP) aims to provide secure public car parking on further park and ride sites around the city, with connecting public transport services into the city centre assisted by bus priority measures. In particular, this offers an alternative to long-stay parking in the city centre Hull has an existing park and ride site at Priory Park to the west of the city. It is a purpose built site with 581 spaces and 120 overflow spaces available on an unused lorry park area. Priory Park is commercially operated and is well used but still only captures a small amount of traffic entering Hull from the A63 The Council has strong aspirations for new park and ride sites to be provided to the north and east of the city. Current attention is on sites just outside the Hull boundary within the neighbouring East Riding of Yorkshire at Dunswell roundabout and on land adjacent to A1033 Hedon Road. To the east of the city a new park and ride facility is proposed on Associated British Ports land (Saltend) and is included as part of the East Riding Local Plan allocation to cater for the expansion of the Port of Hull at Hedon Haven and to mitigate the impact of additional traffic generated by the development. Potential park and ride sites in east Hull using the freight rail line have been examined but found that train journey times into central Hull would be too long; also there is limited capacity on the line, and sites would be difficult to assemble and deliver 2.4 Rail (Passenger) provision Passenger rail services link Hull to the East Coast mainline at Doncaster and York, the major northern cities of Sheffield, Leeds and Manchester, and the coastal resorts of Bridlington and Scarborough. The Hull Paragon Interchange is located in the city centre next to the main shopping and commercial areas The Council is supportive of electrification of the passenger line between the East Coast mainline and Hull (via Selby). This would offer shorter journey times, allow use of newer rolling stock with greater reliability and create environmental benefits In terms of local services, proposed railway stations (halts) in the Bricknell Avenue area on the line from the north, and at Priory Park on the main line from the west are identified by the Local Transport Plan. A further potential rail station site exists near to the KC Stadium. A feasibility study informing the LTP concluded that there were no technical reasons why halts could not be provided but it found no strong business Author: CL/AS Status: Final Date: 04/09/2018 Page 3 of 33 case for them. Current train operating companies using Hull are known to view the potential stations to be too close to Hull Paragon Interchange to merit a stop. Also, any extra stops may prejudice their pathway times to their final destinations 2.5 Bus services Hull’s bus infrastructure is generally fit for purpose, particularly with the Paragon Interchange in operation, which opened in September 2007. There are 'tidal' bus lanes on sections of the radial routes into/ from the city centre and a monitoring system is in operation Hull has seen bus passenger growth of around 30% since 2002/3 with around 26 million bus journeys being taken on the city's bus network each year. Hull has a comprehensive local bus network with high frequency routes into the city centre Travel by bus is generally the most efficient way of moving large numbers of people in built-up areas, particularly along transport corridors and into central areas The pedestrian concourse in Paragon Interchange is operating close to capacity during peak hours (in terms of passengers queueing), and space at the bus station may need to be reconfigured to meet any extra demand.