A common complaint in the neighbourhood has been to do with cars: (too many, parking problems, pedestrian clearways, residents’ access, safety, fumes, etc. Since car ownership and the number of households in Montpelier are increasing, the view is that there may well be more cars here in the future. What can we do about all that?
One suggestion has been to focus on the ideological “heart” of the neighbourhood – Picton Street and the pedestrianised area from Picton St. to Richmond Road. We are using the name “Picton Square” for the moment.
The idea is to pedestrianise and upgrade a larger area, from the last 50 metres of Picton St. to the beginning of Shaftsbury Ave., across to Bath Buildings and the Health Centre. It would become a mixed-use pavement,
If this area was upgraded we might well address several of these problems at once:
- Pedestrians, prams and wheelchairs could move much more freely
- Cars and trucks would naturally be forced to drive very slowly through the area, as the sight-lines would be very short;
- Slower traffic reduces the numbers of cars passing through
- Local shops would benefit: better pedestrian access & increased footfall;
- Residents empowered by participating in project’s design and management
- Greenery growing here and there makes environment more pleasant for all
- More local facilities will become available, such as: a street café, well-used notice-boards, a kiosk or two for street vendors;
- Street-art will reduce tagging and increase the desirable “view”;
- Art installations will become possible.
In order to accomplish all of this, some problems will need to be addressed:
- Relocation of bins left permanently on pavement by traders and residents;
- Dog-fouling and rubbish will have to be addressed;
- Residents and traders will have to agree to give up a few car-park spaces;
- Bristol highways will have to re-surface the area with coloured paviers, etc.;
- The emergency services will have to agree the routes and access.
We hope people will find these suggestions intriguing and stimulating. There are many possibilities ahead; nothing has been decided upon, and nothing has been ruled out. At this stage a few residents are just putting up suggestions to begin the debate. What do you think?
That scooter, always parked near the bike racks – go away!
Perhaps some food for thought from Clifton, where a street has removed ALL wheelie bins in favour of a communal one:
http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/news/Bristol-street-gets-communal-rubbish-bin/article-1379495-detail/article.html
What a great idea. It reminds me of the time a film crew used the same area: they cleared the bins and parked vehicles, put down a few cafe tables and chairs – and achieved a transformation.
Newsletter 3: October 2009 // Oct 19, 2009 at 1:49 am
[...] Picton Square developments [...]
I agree that a communal bin(s) would be great. So many of us live in multi-flat buildings. While I have a garden flat and can easily store my rubbish prior to the Monday removal, most other residents cannot as they live in higher flats with no garden access. They are asked to keep rubbish in their very small flats for 2 weeks (during which time it is rotting, even when wrapped well), which can attract rodents, flies, etc into the buildings. Thus people dump outside regularly, making a mess, then the wheelie bins pop up to at least keep the mess to a minimum. This then blocks the pavements. Communal bins would be a great solution to all of these challenges in my opinion.