How far should we go in the quest for a more pedestrian-friendly Rhuthun? Indeed, should this be a goal? We’ve occasionally wondered whether we could easily and legitimately lose the six parking spaces on St Peter’s Square. We recently reflected that a one way system might knock out the roundabout at the top of town and open up a Square that’s currently dominated less by our townscape and more by the car. And we’ve considered Upper Clwyd Street as a pedestrianised road.
But is there more we could do?
If miraculously parking could be withdrawn from the square altogether, including around its fringe, then there’d be no need for vehicles other than for deliveries to travel up Well Street beyond Dog Lane & Record Street. Normal access could be retained along ‘lower’ Well Street, to on-street parking, to Dog Lane car park, to Record Street for Castle Street and to Wynnstay Road, but no further up the narrower part of Well Street.
Similarly, beyond the access to Crispin Yard car park (for Cae Ddol), Clwyd Street might usefully be pedestrianised. But here lies the problem—a substantial loss of on-street parking. Allow motorists to benefit from such parking in Clwyd Street and without either a roundabout at the Square or a one way system, how do they get out?
And traders would presumably complain at the loss of any free, on-street parking. Parking’s pretty much linked to purchases, they'd argue. Remember Nadolig Rhuthun 2007? The free-or-not public car parks debate will no doubt continue well into the future and while it does, the presence of considerable free on-street parking tends to balance the view that town car parks in Rhuthun should be not charge while Tesco offers complimentary parking.
Perhaps therefore the dream of a pedestrian-friendly hub at and around St Peter’s Square is just that, a dream. Or night it be a nightmare for traders?
But is there more we could do?
If miraculously parking could be withdrawn from the square altogether, including around its fringe, then there’d be no need for vehicles other than for deliveries to travel up Well Street beyond Dog Lane & Record Street. Normal access could be retained along ‘lower’ Well Street, to on-street parking, to Dog Lane car park, to Record Street for Castle Street and to Wynnstay Road, but no further up the narrower part of Well Street.
Similarly, beyond the access to Crispin Yard car park (for Cae Ddol), Clwyd Street might usefully be pedestrianised. But here lies the problem—a substantial loss of on-street parking. Allow motorists to benefit from such parking in Clwyd Street and without either a roundabout at the Square or a one way system, how do they get out?
And traders would presumably complain at the loss of any free, on-street parking. Parking’s pretty much linked to purchases, they'd argue. Remember Nadolig Rhuthun 2007? The free-or-not public car parks debate will no doubt continue well into the future and while it does, the presence of considerable free on-street parking tends to balance the view that town car parks in Rhuthun should be not charge while Tesco offers complimentary parking.
Perhaps therefore the dream of a pedestrian-friendly hub at and around St Peter’s Square is just that, a dream. Or night it be a nightmare for traders?
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Parking