StreetMap location

Rhyl Street Option A

Rhyl Street Option b

COUNCIL TEXT

Rhyl Street and Marsden Street Open Space Proposals

You may remember in 2003 we consulted you on possibilities for creating several new or improved open spaces in the Gospel Oak Neighbourhood Management area. Residents identified several locations where they felt improvements to the local street environment could be made, making the places feel safer and more pleasant to walk and cycle through, or just sit and chat.

Local steering groups were set up for each area, to consider designs for the project and raise any concerns on behalf of residents and local organisations.

This consultation is asking you what you think about the options for:

1. Rhyl Street Open Space
2. Marsden Street Open Space

Rhyl Street Open Space

There are two plans of Rhyl Street Open Space, with accompanying sketches.

• Option A shows a road closure installed at the junction with Bassett Street, with a paved square created outside the school. Emergency access would be maintained as well as a two-way cycle lane. A raised entry treatment would be built at the junction with Talacre Road to slow vehicles turning. The large planter would also be reshaped.
• Option B shows a raised entry treatment being built at the junction with Bassett Street, to slow traffic turning. At the junction with Talacre Road, a road closure would be installed with a paved area and reshaped planter. Emergency access would be maintained as well as a two-way cycle lane.

Marsden Street Open Space

The plan of Marsden Street Open Space show two options.

• Option A shows a small, informal play area in the meeting space outside the school gates, along with seating. The school would be involved in designing the play area.
• Option B shows only seating in the meeting space outside the school gates.

  -----

CCC's response

Rhyl Street:

We are disappointed to see such watered down proposals for Rhyl Street as we feel that a total road closure would have been a much better solution and use of resources. However we now limit our comments to the proposals in the consultation document. We suggest:

• the pavement is substantially built out so it is wider for at least 10 metres around the school entrance (seating could be installed);
• the raised entry treatment is reduced in width (to around 3 metres) to permit only one direction of motor traffic (with priority to exiting vehicles); this would make it easier for pedestrians to cross and reduce the attractiveness of driving children to school;
• consideration is given to how to prevent parents from parking across the cycle track; the current layout with 2 cycle gaps on either side of the fire gate means if a car is blocking one cycle gap the other is usually free.

We have a slight preference for Option B as improving the linkage to Talacre Park is important, and sightlines for Option A seem poor for cyclists exiting the scheme towards Bassett St (due to parked cars).

Marsden Street

The Marsden St plans look more promising, and we prefer option A.

But we think that the curve of the kerb line for the motor vehicle entrance is too generous and unnecessarily eats into pedestrian space; it should be tightened to encourage low speeds.

Its not clear from the plans, but the road entrance into the school should be flush with the pavement. The presence of a hump in Marsden Street seems excessive - surely speeds cannot build up in a short one-way street like that? But if it is decided that something of this sort is needed, cushions should not be used because of they are a potential hazard for cyclists and pedestrians due to the unpredictable manoeuvres of drivers.

Questions

Rhyl Street - which of the two options do you prefer?Option B

Marsden Street - which of the two options do you prefer?Option A