PICTURES: Warwick town centre plans revealed

The major changes, being put forward by Warwickshire County Council include pedestrianising streets, widening pavements, and bringing in a 20mph speed limit to deter thoroughfare drivers from the town centre.

Plans set out include:

• Northgate junction

The plans include removing the roundabout and narrowing the toad to make way for a new crossing and wider pavement outside Northgate House.

There would also be a forced right turn only from Barrack Street to Northgate Street.

• Eastgate junction

Plans include removal of left hand lane into High Street and Jury Street, with a narrower entrance into the Butts,

Wider pavements would be introduced outside the Baptist church, around Eastgate and on Castle Hill.

• The Butts (northbound) One-way

With wider pavements to reduce the amount of parked cars and improve the settling for historic buildings.

Traffic lanes will be removed at Eastgate with wider pavements to make the area more pedestrian friendly.

•High Street / Jury Street (eastbound) One-way

Changes will improve pedestrian connections between the castle and town, widen pavements and improved cycle facilities

It will mean a reduction in traffic lanes at Eastgate and Westgate, with wider pavements and landscaping.

There will also be traffic restrictions on Castle Lane to prevent through traffic using this route as an alternative to High Street and Jury Street.

• Theatre Street and Bowling Green Street

Changes here will give priority signs to buses to help them exit from Warwick bus station onto Theatre Street and Bowling Green Street

• Junction alterations at key gateways

Changes will reduce space taken up by junctions to allow for more pedestrian access and provide a more sensitive setting for historic buildings.

Proposals at Eastgate and Westgate will require one-way systems to be in place.

• 20mph zone

The zone is proposed to improve safety and accessibility for pedestrians and cyclists.

More extensive changes are proposed to the road layout along Priory Road as the area experiences higher traffic speeds.

• Reducing street clutter

The council will carry out a review of signage and street furniture with a view to removing street clutter and removing appearance of the streets.

All yellow lines will be removed on certain streets through the introduction of a restricted parking zone.

Locations and amount of on-street parking will remain the same.

• Wider pavements and new crossing points for pedestrians

Hoped to improve the town centre environment and provide good connectivity into and across the town with cycle lanes and shared use cycleways and allow riders to travel safely in both directions along one-way streets.

Visit the council’s website for the full proposals and to have a say via a feedback form.

A council statement said: “Warwick is a thriving county town. However there are a number of issues in the town centre:

“Poor air quality, especially in streets where emissions from stationary vehicles cannot easily disperse due to the height and proximity of surrounding buildings.

“In some areas the existing road layout is not sensitive to the historic setting and there is lack of facilities for pedestrians and cyclists.”

It is hoped changes will encourage local traffic to use other means of transport, while cars will be deterred from using the town as a thoroughfare.

But officers said the changes could even increase air quality on some streets, despite reducing levels overall in the town. And with one-way roads, journey times would be affected.

Drivers would be encouraged to use alternative routes such as the M40 and A46, rather than travelling via Warwick town centre and work car shares are hoped to take off to help the changes.