Salisbury junction improvements: This is what you have said

Wiltshire Council is proposing to improve three junctions at Exeter Street Roundabout, Harnham Gyratory and Park Wall.

A public consultation was held between June 17 and July 18, and because of Covid-19 restrictions it was held predominantly online.

It included presentations to the Salisbury and South Wiltshire Area Boards, presentations to the city council and two public webinars.

There were 290 responses to the online questionnaire and 67 emails were received, which contained a total of 1,214 comments on various aspects of the schemes.

However, it should be noted that in some cases the written submissions may have duplicated questionnaire responses also given.

The council said: "From the information collected in the questionnaire it would appear that those aged 65 and over were over-represented and females were under-represented in those responding to the consultation, with 43 per cent of responses being from those aged 65 and over (compared to 19 per cent in the local census data) and only 39 per cent from females (compared to 52 per cent in the local census data)."

"Ethnic origin and median annual earnings seemed to reflect the local population," the council said.

EXETER STREET

Exeter Street option 1

Exeter Street roundabout option 2

Option one involves exiting and entering the junction as per the existing layout.

Option two would add a new arm next to the cathedral wall for entering the roundabout from St Nicholas Road.

Option one was preferred to Option two (Option 1 - 36 per cent, Option 2 - 14 per cent, Neither - 50 per cent).

A number of consultees objected to Option two and Historic England raised concerns about that option too.

The removal of trees at the Exeter Street Roundabout with Option two was considered to have a negative effect (15 per cent).

There were other objections to Option two (10 per cent) and views that bringing vehicles close to the wall of the Close should be avoided (10 per cent).

There were comments that the proposed signal-controlled pedestrian crossing of Churchill Way South was not required because of the existing subway (10 per cent).

HARNHAM GYRATORY

Harnham Gyratory

The proposed changes at Harnham Gyratory were not considered to be significant enough by some (8 per cent), and it was thought that the pedestrian crossings around Harnham Gyratory were inconvenient and did not follow desire lines (4 per cent).

PARK WALL

Park Wall

The road layout at this junction, just outside of Wilton, would not be changed dramatically due to limited space.

However, improvements would include adjustments to the kerb lines and road markings, changes to traffic lights, upgraded signalised crossings for pedestrians and cyclists leading to a new path connecting Netherhampton Road to Lower Road and advanced stop lines for cyclists.

There were some suggestions that the proposed changes at Park Wall would make little difference (6 per cent), and the geometry of the junction needed to be amended (3 per cent), with possibly compulsory purchase used (3 per cent).

In the questionnaire responses there was considerable doubt that the proposals would improve conditions for most users.

However, cyclists were more evenly divided about the potential benefits of the scheme for them.

Opinion was also divided about the additional walking and cycling facilities proposed, but the majority of cyclists thought they were needed.

Some thought that the improvements appeared to encourage the use of motor vehicles rather than promoting active travel (5 per cent) or thought that walking and cycling infrastructure should be prioritised (3 per cent), but an appreciable number thought that larger scale improvements were needed.

It was also suggested that College Roundabout was the junction that required improvement (17 per cent), that Salisbury needs a bypass (15 per cent), or that the proposals were too minor in nature and would not overcome the problems (10 per cent).

The information collected through the consultation process will be used to develop the proposals in more detail.

More information on the scheme is available here.

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