Linenhall junction the main issue as safety audit to begin
The revelation that a safety audit is to be undertaken on all the renovation work on the town centre roads and footpaths has taken many people by surprise.
Most expected that such an audit would have taken place by the design team before the work was started, but obviously that isn’t the case.
The main bone of contention with the work seems to be in the Church Street area and in particular the new road layout at the junction of Linenhall Street and Church Street.
Anyone who has negotiated the new road layout outside the former H. F. & J. McCann bakery maintain that an unnecessary difficulty has been created, especially for lorries and other lengthy vehicles trying to manoeuvre their way round the very narrow bend.
Undoubtedly the new layout slows down traffic and if that was the primary aim of the work then it is a success for at peak times for traffic a tail back forms right the way down Linenhall Street.
Already there have been calls from councillors and others for the roadway to be widened to reduce the grid lock, and others argue that there was little wrong with the road layout that existed before the rejuvenation work was undertaken.
Unquestionably the work, not just in Church Street, but throughout the town has considerably enhanced the town’s main commercial centre, and the St. Nicholas Quarter idea is a real asset.
The problem however is that not many anticipated the work that was undertaken at the Linenhall junction with Church Street and although plans for that work were displayed beforehand, it wasn’t until the work started and the new layout emerged that people began to take notice.
The difficulty now for the council is whether to respond to the concerns of many and alter the layout, or to preserve the work as it stands, hoping that when the new surface and road markings are in place that all will get used to the new layout and come to live with it.