The Better Streets public closes on December 16th. It took just over a year to get to the point where the 10 street improvement schemes were announced to the public. DPAG were happy to support the project as it closely aligned with our goals of getting more people into the town centre on a daily basis.
View plans and the online survey form | Jump directly to the survey form
The current outdated situation doesn’t serve the town well. The one-way system sweeps people around the heart of the town on to what is at points a four lane Shakespeare Street and then Whitesands. The town centre is encircled by a series of A roads and the Better Streets proposals is designed to address some of the barriers that this creates for people easily accessing the town centre.
There’s a lot to take in at first glance. 10 schemes with multiple maps and photos is a lot so we’re doing a summary of the the entire project as most of the schemes are actually connected and can be viewed as a single project so we’ll approach them in that way. You can still have your say using the survey form. Get your response in before Monday 16th.
- You don’t have to respond to all 10 schemes, you can simply pick one that most impacts a route you use or would use based on the improvements.
- You don’t have to write an essay! If you want you can just say you’re generally for or against a particular scheme, although it helps if you say a little bit about why.
- You’ll be asked to prioritise which schemes you think will make the most difference.
- You can and should respond even if you agree with all of the proposals. People tend to respond to surveys when they object to things, but they often don’t respond to show support. So if you just want to say you agree with the proposals, that’s fine and it’s still valuable feedback. Likewise if you don’t like them or have suggestions for improvements, have your say.
The main themes of the proposals
When you sit with the plans for a while some key themes start to emerge; wider pavements to accommodate more people, continuous pavements so that moving around with a wheelchair or with kids in a buggy doesn’t seem like a challenge, new and safer road crossings that get people across the road with less waiting time for everyone, separate spaces for pedestrians and cyclists, and opportunities to turn forgotten corners into attractive pocket parks to spruce up the town.
The population of Dumfries continues to grow, town centre space remains the same and we have vehicle pinch-points crossing the river in and out of town. If we are to continue to grow as a town, vehicle congestion will increase if the status quo remains. We need to provide as many options for people to get into and move around the town. That doesn’t mean people switching entirely to different modes of transport. It doesn’t mean giving up your car if you have one (24%+ don’t have access to a car in D&G). It just means ensuring everyone can move around and through the town safely and at their own pace.
Please, if you have not already, take 10 minutes to review the proposals and respond to the survey. The last opportunity to do so is before Monday 16th December, 2024.
View plans and the online survey form | Jump directly to the survey form
Some of the proposals in the Better Streets scheme. View the online survey for full details and zoomable maps.
