Salisbury Cathedral Traffic Management Pilot Scheme: Evaluation Report

SALISBURY CATHEDRAL TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT PILOT SCHEME: EVALUATION REPORT Introduction 1. It is always worth restating that the Cathedral Close covers 83 acres with St. Mary’s Cathedral at its centre. It is an area of exceptional importance both in relation to the historic nature of the buildings and the quality of its environment. In addition to the Cathedral, the Close is home to two schools, a college of higher education, two museums and three buildings open to the public (Mompesson House, the Medieval Hall and Arundells). Importantly, it is also home to a high number of private residences. All of these users contribute to the vehicle flows through the Close and there are particular issues related to school traffic and servicing. In addition, there is evidence to suggest that there is an element of traffic which uses the Close as a short cut from one side of Salisbury City to the other. Importantly, the Cathedral is a net contributor to the economic success of the City as a whole, attracting a large number of visitors throughout the year - particularly in the summer months - resulting in pedestrian flows that are substantially higher than vehicle flows. The result is an imbalance of the road user hierarchy and a high risk of vehicular and pedestrian conflict, particularly at the High Street Gate, which is the main point of both vehicular, pedestrian and cyclist access and egress. 2. In addition to the points above, two particular issues have risen to the top of the agenda. The first is the need to seek renewal of the temporary planning permission for the Cathedral Car Park, which is subject to a section 106 Agreement to reduce traffic in the Close. The second is the expectation that the planned Magna Carta Celebrations in 2015 will generate increased visitor numbers to the Close, as well as to the City as a whole. 3. Discussions took place from the spring onwards on what measures could be taken to better manage the traffic, and involved businesses in the Close via the Sarum Partnership meetings and with residents through community briefings. A feasibility study was commissioned from ADL Traffic Engineering Ltd to review the available options, with Chapter approval in June to implement a pilot scheme in August 2014. Traffic Management Pilot: Objectives 4. The objective of the pilot was defined as follows: “To understand the impact of different operating arrangements and to learn lessons which could help to increase safety and ease access for pedestrians and support the reduction of traffic in the Close, without affecting access for residents and businesses” 5. The pilot, which was discussed in detail with Wiltshire Council’s traffic team (who supported the trial with advice and the necessary signage) consisted of: i. Closure of the High Street Gate to vehicular traffic between 1pm and 6pm making it pedestrian access only Monday through to Friday. (1pm and 4pm On Saturday) ii. Opening of St. Ann’s Gate between 1pm and 6pm to vehicular traffic Monday through to Friday (1pm and 4pm on Saturday) iii. Restriction of large delivery vehicles to the morning only iv. A partial one-way traffic system with all vehicles exiting by Harnham Gate 6. The pilot was widely communicated in advance via the press, the Cathedral’s website, the Cathedral Close Community Briefing and by letter to all residents and businesses in the Close and the surrounding streets, including the High Street traders, Exeter Street, St John’s Street and parts of Brown Street and St. Ann’s Street. 7. A “before and after” study was commissioned from ADL Traffic Engineering Ltd and arrangements put in place to capture feedback, comments and experience of the pilot from the Cathedral Community and users of the Close during the pilot period which ran throughout August. The pilot was thus fully documented, a list of which is attached at Appendix I. All of the documentation will be made available, in full, to the public via the Cathedral’s website. This report summarises the documented information under the following headings: ADL report Technical Assessment (Wiltshire Council) Resident and user views High Street businesses views Discussions with Salisbury City Council Survey results Visitor surveys Traffic Team views 8. The pilot was managed throughout August by the Cathedral’s traffic team, headed by Tony Wheeler. Chapter will wish to know of the many tributes that were made to the team by all users of the Close for the effective way in which they carry out their normal day to day duties, and for the exemplary way in which they responded to the challenges presented by the pilot. Their views are of particular importance to the outcome of the pilot and to the way forward, and have been included in the findings. Traffic Management Pilot: Findings 9. ADL Report. A full data analysis is available in the ADL report, from which the headline findings are as follows: i. the pilot reduced overall traffic in the Close during August by 30% ii. closure of the schools reduced traffic on North Walk in July by 57% iii. The pilot increased the amount of traffic on North Walk during August by an average of 16% (because of the one-way flow). iv. Vehicle speeds were reduced by an average of 1.3-1.6 miles per hour v. Traffic on West Walk was reduced by an average of 10% vi. The schools closure reduced traffic flows on De Vaux Place by 12% vii. Traffic flows through the High Street Gate were reduced by 60% in August viii. (Two-way) pedestrian flows through the High Street Gate increased during August by 17% on a Friday (from 7,200 in June to 8,400 in August) and by 35% on a Saturday (from 9,100 in June to 12,300 in August) ix. The number of delivery vehicles did not decrease, but were concentrated into the period before 1pm Technical Assessment (Wiltshire Council) 10. The full briefing note is available from the Traffic Engineering Team, from which the headline findings are as follows: i. In general, the left turn movement from Exeter Street into St Ann’s Gate did not prove overly difficult or problematic. ii. A number of motorists were using the left-hand lane of St Ann’s Street to undertake the ahead movement into St Ann’s Gate and therefore were coming into conflict with north bound traffic on Exeter Street. iii. When the High Street Gate was closed a number of vehicles entered High Street and either executed a three-point turn or reversed out into New Street/Crane Street. iv. Vehicle speeds through St Ann’s Gate were appropriate but some conflict with pedestrians was noted particularly when large numbers were accessing when dropped off by a tourist coach. v. St Ann’s Gate is generally in shadow and as such pedestrians are not always visible to motorists. 11. The report concluded that: vi. Vehicular access through St Ann’s Gate from the right-hand lane of St Ann’s Street is proved to be acceptable and workable. vii. Concerns remain about access into St Ann’s Gate from the left-hand lane of St Ann’s Street and the visibility when undertaking the left turn from Exeter Street. viii. Concern is expressed about pedestrian and vehicle conflict within St Ann’s Gate itself, specifically visibility of pedestrians accessing the Close. ix. The available space for pedestrians and cyclists at the High Street Gate needs to be maximised: closing one of the Gates is unsatisfactory in the longer term with the anticipated higher visitor levels expected during the Magna Carta celebrations. Resident and User Views, Comments and Experiences 12. Four Resident Workshops, attended by 45 people, were held which have been recorded as fully as possible. They are predominately, but not universally, positive. It would be fair to say that the majority of residents who attended i) liked the positive benefits of less traffic in the Close and ii) thought that a permanent solution could not be arrived at unless the schools’ traffic was addressed. In addition, and although we have had letters of clear support for the pilot, there remains vociferous opposition to the pilot from the residents living closest to St Ann’s Gate; their presentation folder and photographic record of the pilot have been included in the documentation. 13. Around 50 telephone calls, emails and letters were received before, during and following the pilot. The comments received were recorded and will be made publically available. Given the range of comments received (233 in total) an analysis has been made under the top 10 subjects raised: No. of Subject Predominant Views Expressed Comments All except one comment supported ways and Suggestions 39 means of reducing traffic in the future Impact on the Close 37 Positive support Exeter Street direction 36 Concerns about traffic behaviour St Ann’s Gate 34 Concerns about pedestrian safety Traffic inside the Close 16 Positive Impact Cyclist behaviour/visual impact of half gate High Street Gate 14 closure Timing of Trial 11 Pilot needed during school term time Signage 11 Temporary signage confusing Taxi Access 9 Behaviour changes of taxi drivers a dis-benefit Harnham Gate Exit 5 Conflicts and large vehicles 14. From the above analysis, it can be concluded that the pilot received a predominantly positive response in terms of the outcome for the Cathedral Close, but that there were clear concerns about the impact for pedestrians and traffic using the St. Ann’s Street Gate, suggesting that any permanent use of the Gate would require more effective measures to be put in place than were possible during a pilot scheme.

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