Town Centre Public Realm Strategy
If the Town Centre is to succeed as an accessible urban core, it is critically important that those people living and working within feasible walking distance of the centre should be positively encouraged to walk as an alternative to using their cars. The benefits in terms of providing a more sustainable environment are clear and proposals should therefore be brought forward to ensure that, wherever possible, a safe, well-lit, attractive public realm is created where roads and other physical barriers currently obstruct movement.
It is recognised that the linkages called for in this strategy will be phased, along with adjustments to the infrastructure corridors. In the short term, the most important deliverables will be the treatment of the public spaces within the new Town Centre scheme and the axial links that radiate out into the catchment area. Most particularly, the introduction of a positive at-grade pedestrian crossing over Askew Road East, to the immediate north of the Old Town Hall will have the dual benefit of providing a link to the Townscape Heritage Area and serving to control traffic movement on Askew Road itself. In addition, the eastward link to the Business Quarter should be routed beneath the existing railway tracks to offer an alternative to the dangerous environment of the Oakwellgate junction.
Links to the south and west are considered to be more straightforward to deliver and should again be based on at-grade solutions.
