Market Street to be cobbled in later phase of safety redevelopment
PLANS to improve how traffic is managed around the Market building are needed, pedestrians and business owners have said.
Works will begin this month to help protect pedestrians, provide improved accessible spaces for people with disabilities and extend the unloading area in the Bordage to assist businesses.
These include narrowing the entrances to Market Street, Contree Croix Mansell and Mansell Street, and relocating the bus stop in Le Bordage.
Mill Street’s Quayside Gallery owner Mike Barnaby said the improvements were a step in the right direction.
‘I haven’t seen the plans but I think it would be a very good idea,’ he said.
‘I have seen some close calls with cars over the years in this area, so if it’s going to be done it needs to be done properly.
‘But to truly pedestrianise the area they need to cobble Market Street and create flow.
'There is a mental block between the cobbles and the tarmac – when a pedestrian walks along and reaches the tarmac they think cars and stop.’
A member of the public who wished to be known as Mrs Waterman agreed that cobbling the area would encourage people to venture up Mill Street.
‘They should improve the cobbles, not the old fashioned ones but the new ones as they are quite rough,’ she said.
‘I do think it’s a good idea to make the area safer – and anything to get people up Mill Street.
‘But I guess everything depends on what the treasurer will allow.’
St Peter Port senior constable Dennis Le Moignan said cobbling the street would happen but it was in a different phase of the development of the area.
The plan includes relocating the two accessible bays outside the Co-Op.
A member of the public in the Golden Lion pub who did not wish to be named said limiting access to vehicles was a great idea.
‘Cars dominate this island too much,’ they said.
‘Getting people up Mill Street and Mansell Street would be good, making it a through way for pedestrians.
'It may encourage more al fresco dining and things during the summer.
'But you have to balance it with things like delivery and emergency vehicle access, you have got to be sensible about it.’
