ALTHOUGH the ‘red wall’ of barriers and the ‘bus gate’ in the town centre have finally gone, more permanent fixtures to reduce car use are to be introduced, says Hampshire County Council.
Petersfield county councillor and the council lead for highways operations Russell Oppenheimer said: “As part of the council’s Active Travel commitment, there are going to be some permanent planters installed to cut town-centre traffic.
“But the bus gate won’t be replaced, nor will there be any barriers in The Square.”
The controversial barrier walls along the High Street, through The Square and into Swan Street, and the bus gate between Lloyds and HSBC banks in The Square were installed last year by Hampshire County Council.
They were intended to create more social-distancing space during the pandemic for pedestrians and bikes, and to reduce the number of vehicles using the town centre.
But the initiatives caused an outcry, with town-centre businesses saying they made parking hard and drove customers away, while others insisted they were an eyesore and put visitors off, cutting footfall in High Streets shops.
The bus gate was especially controversial; aimed at stopping car, van and lorry access from The Square to Swan and Chapel streets, it was ignored virtually from its installation.
But any visions of traffic flowing freely through the town now are premature, and would probably be short-lived anyway, says Cllr Oppenheimer.
He added: “The county council is working with Petersfield Town Council and East Hampshire District Council on a ‘place-making scheme’ for the town.
“Among other aims, it will reduce car use in the town, and make it more bike and pedestrian friendly, especially along the town spine from the station to the war memorial.
“There are car parks literally a couple of minutes’ walk from the town centre at Tesco and in Swan Street, and if people used them more it would be great.”
A county council team first looked at a ‘town spine’ improvement project back in 2010/2011 and were carried out traffic surveys, something the ‘place makers’ are also planning, says Cllr Oppenheimer.