The Details

The town centre stands to gain so much if it were more welcoming to cyclists and pedestrians. Although more people are cycling into the centre of town than before, it hasn’t seen the same boom as other parts of the town. The increase is mainly among men, rather than women or families, which is a sign of hostile conditions in the surrounding streets. When people don’t feel safe cycling to the town centre, this puts more pressure on parking and makes it harder to reprioritise streets away from moving traffic around, into creating places for people. Plenty of research has shown that people who go shopping by bike, on foot or on public transport spend more overall than those who drive – something the local economy could do with right now.

Accessing the High Street by bike

It remains impossible to legally cycle the two hundred yards from the Whitesands to the High Street except via the regular one-way system. This means pulling across three lanes of traffic on Shakespeare street to access the High Street. As well as enabling access to shops and cafes from existing cycle routes, easier cycling through the town centre could help join up some of the currently disjointed parts of the cycling network, For instance, the town centre offers the most direct route between the railway station and NCN 7, which runs along the Whitesands, but while it’s currently perfectly legal to cycle from the station down to the Whitesands along Bank Street, there’s no legal way of doing it in the other direction.

As most of the streets in the town centre are either nominally pedestrianised or low traffic, there should be no safety concerns involved in allowing two-way cycling along the otherwise one-way streets, especially the High Street, Friars Vennel and the top end of Bank Street. This would formalise what happens in practice anyway, but it would be better if cyclists had a legal right to cycle through the town centre, rather than taking the law into their own hands.

Enabling two-way cycling down Queen Street from English Street would not only provide a safe access to those living in the recently improved Queen Street area, and make DG1 Leisure Complex and Morrisons more accessible by bike, but could also form the start of a route towards Larchfield and Georgetown.

This really is one of the lowest of the low-hanging fruit: the council actually developed plans a few years ago to allow two-way cycling on all the (one-way) roads within the pedestrianised area (including Bank Street, Friars Vennel and the High Street). These proposals even included a new two-way cycleway using part of Shakespeare Street to link the south end of the High Street with the Whitesands. Despite getting as far as advertising the necessary changes to traffic regulation orders, we have yet to see any changes.

The High Street is supposed to only be accessed by motor vehicles during certain hours of the day. The top half of Bank Street and the Friars Vennel are access only (for the people who live there) with no waiting. In practice this is rarely enforced so motor vehicles park for long stretches on all of these streets at any time of day. We’ve got a really nice pedestrianised High Street, but restrictions are not enforced.

It’s frustrating to see nice shopping streets like the Vennel, which should be a place for people to stroll safely become clogged with parked cars and impatient drivers who treat it like a normal road.

Properly enforcing the pedestrianisation (and parking restrictions) of these streets would benefit everyone apart from the tiny handful of people who currently park there outside loading times. There are three car parks that connect directly to the Vennel so availability of off-street car parking isn’t an issue.

A barrier across the bottom of the High Street would be the easiest way to enforce the delivery hours, while creative use of parklets or planters would create more places for folk to linger, encouraging them to shop more, and also providing a place to rest (benches are an important mobility aid for people who can’t walk that far at a stretch).

Encouraging businesses to follow the example of the Riverside Tap and put out more tables and chairs would also attract more people into the town centre, especially in fine weather (and with awnings and a bit of shelter, safe outdoor dining becomes an even more attractive prospect in our changeable climate).

The case for more pedestrianised streets

Three streets were suggested for closure or traffic restrictions as part of the Common Space consultation – Assembly Street, Queensberry Street and the section of Queen Street between Shakespeare Street and English Street.

Queensberry Street is very narrow, with cluttered pavements and yet still provides a few parking spaces along one end. There are a few cafes and the Tam O’Shanter pub that might make better use of the space than storage for half a dozen cars, and it might attract more people to the shops around them. Apart from access or deliveries, there’s no real need to use it as a through route for cars. Temporary pedestrianisation during the summer and at weekends might be a good way to try this. It could also offer scope for an extension to the market.

The section of Queen Street between English Street and Shakespeare Street has very narrow footways, is one-way and creates a loop that is used to park illegally near the High Street.

Assembly Street (between Irish Street and the Whitesands) has a very narrow pavement and only serves one property directly. Closing it off could provide an extra route for cycling up to the town centre and create a far more attractive pedestrian route between the Loreburne Centre and the Whitesands, including for those who park there.

These roads act as important links to/from the town centre. Improving the pedestrian and cycling environment would encourage more people to leave their cars either at home or in the parking towards the edge of the town, leaving any closer parking available for those with a disabled badge. An improved pedestrian environment here would also make the Theatre Royal more accessible from the town centre.

Dumfries town centre is undergoing some exciting changes with a number of projects to bring people back to live right in the heart of the town. Putting people at the heart of the place with the suggestions we’ve made above, will be key to making these changes a success.