Case proposed for Market Street, Bradford, pedestrianisation

The Telegraph & Argus reported on the vision for a ‘Market Street revival’ back in February, when the campaign was in its early stages.

Now the case for pedestrianisation has been submitted to the Council and the Bradford BID team and supporters will be able to put their name to a petition from early next week.

Bradford businessman Doug Mclean, of Tiffin Sandwiches, Tiffin Coffee, City Vaults, the Lord Clyde and Ginger Goose, is spearheading the idea and believes the regeneration of the street could be the key to drawing people back into the city centre.

A brochure titled ‘Reclaiming Bradford City Streets. Connecting the Regeneration Vision’ says the plan is being proposed now as it will build on plans announced by Bradford Council for further regeneration of the city centre.

It says: “If integrated into these plans, the costs of the work will be significantly reduced whilst the economic and social benefits will provide a return both to the Council, investors and the people of Bradford.”

The document adds: “As local business people and investors we have looked at the idea of pedestrianisation before, but we recognised that, in our view correctly, the Council had to prioritise City Park and the Broadway.

“We believe that now is the time to progress with our ideas and we hope that the proposal will be given serious consideration by the Council as part of the wider regeneration schemes currently proposed for the city.”

It describes Market Street as a “major thoroughfare” which fails to fulfil its potential for a number of reasons - it is not a through road for most traffic, pavements are often blocked by queues of people and its use as an ‘alternative’ to the Interchange, which means buses, parked for long periods of time, block the view of business frontages.

“There a number of shop fronts and buildings on Market Street that have struggled to find a sustainable use and have been through a number of iterations over the last few years, none of which have proved to be successful.

“In many cases, the major reason given by those who have tried and failed to develop their business is that lack of footfall and the problems of visibility caused by the buses and the bus queues blocking their business fronts,” the document says.

The vision sees a pedestrianised Market Street as an important part of the city centre jigsaw.

It says: “Research has shown that the most successful projects of this type flourish when they provide an animated link to other attractions. As well as the link between the two stations, Market Street is also the main approach to the Broadway centre and links this retail hub with the events space of Centenary Square/City Park and the Alhambra and Odeon.

“We believe that not only will this project support the commercial and leisure investment going into the city centre, but it can enhance them by providing additional space for events and activities to attract people through the street to encourage them to other parts of the city.

“It will also provide additional space for events held in City Park which will not only increase the options for such activity, but bring people who are attending these events into the heart of the retail centre of Bradford.”

One of the main barriers to the plan is the street’s role as a main route for buses, but those behind the plans believe there are options “which will improve access and traffic flow across the city”.

Those pushing for pedestrianisation say it’s an idea “whose time has come”.

They said: “The addition of this project to the existing plans for the city centre will allow for costs to be reduced and for an integrated approach to be taken to the wider regeneration of the city centre.

“We have received support for the idea from agents businesses who operate in the city centre. We recognise that resources are tight but the economic benefits of the proposal in terms of employment, increase in property values and business rate income to the Council, additional events space, tourism and access routes to the Broadway, the civic spaces of City Park, will pay dividends.”

It says while bus route alterations will increase journey distance for some trips, “this can be balanced against the increased access to areas of the city”.

It’s hoped a meeting will take place with the Council later this year.

BUSES

The vision for a pedestrianised Market Street sets out how the city’s bus system would work as part of the plan.

It says there would need to be additional stops on Leeds Road/Hall Ings for buses going towards Leeds from the city centre. Buses coming from the Leeds/Greengates direction currently come down Church Bank and turn left onto Market Street.

“Our proposal would be that these buses run down Shipley Airedale Road and turn right onto Leeds Road and then arrive in the city centre via Hall Ings,” say the group.

This would mean changing the lights on Shipley Airedale Road and Leeds Road to allow buses to turn right.

The document adds: “An alternative route for some or all of these buses would be to turn right at the junction with Market Street and travel up Manor Row and , depending on their ultimate destination, either continue up towards Shipley or turn into John Street, thus improving bus access to both the new market and whatever replaces the current Oastler Centre.”

It says: “Private vehicles currently use Bank Street as the exit from Market Street. If the cars are rerouted into the major routes then this road can be closed at the Market Street end. There would still be access from Hall Ings allowing the buses that use it as they do now.”