Old Town Street and New George Street will formally become a pedestrian area, bringing it in line with the rest of the city centre.
From Monday 28 April a traffic regulation order has come into effect that means traffic restrictions apply to this redeveloped public space, which has been transformed and updated as part of a multi-million investment in the city centre.
Councillor Mark Lowry, city centre champion said: “This is a major shopping street. More and more people want to sit and eat in some of the new businesses that have opened as well as enjoy the transformation of this area. The place has been packed in recent weekends, with music sessions and a food market. We want more of this.
“People have always enjoyed strolling around here but the service yard created potential conflict between vehicles and pedestrians.
“This order makes it clear that the safety of pedestrians and shoppers are the top priority. This is essentially legal paperwork which clarifies what delivery drivers should and should not be doing.”
Steve Hughes, chief executive of the Plymouth City Centre Company, said: "These changes will make the city centre more welcoming for visitors and enable us to use the fully pedestrianised spaces for events and other street entertainment during the day and at night.
"It will help us to make the city centre livelier and develop the evening and night-time economy, so will be good news for our businesses.”
The order means:
- Deliveries will only be permitted between 4am and 8am seven days a week on Old Town Street and New George Street (up to the service yard next to Tesco’s) – permits for those times are no longer needed.
- Vehicles will only be allowed between 8am and 6pm (8pm on Thursdays) if the driver has a permit, issued by the Council. This has been introduced to keep pedestrians safe from vehicle movements but recognises many businesses, such as coffee shops open long before 9.30am.
- The entire city centre pedestrian area including Old Town Street and New George Street is covered by a no loading and no waiting (no parking) restriction.
Deliveries for businesses in Old Town Street and New George Street have already been restricted to accessing the service yards between 4am and 8am for months, while work to improve the public realm progressed. The order means this will be a permanent fixture.
Restricting deliveries to this quieter period enables the new areas of public space to be prioritised for pedestrians during the day and evening, particularly with more events being held in the Old Town Square. There is new branding and signage across Old Town Square, bringing new life to the street.
The Council has been in discussions with businesses about concerns they have and has written to all businesses outlining details of the order as well as asking them to ensure their delivery drivers are aware of the access times as well as permit requirements.
The conditions apply to any vehicle with a licence plate, including vans, mopeds and motorbikes. The Council is also asking businesses who use delivery riders to ensure that the riders comply with the law around electric cycles and cycle responsibly through the pedestrian areas.
As the traffic order is an experimental order, there is an open 18-month consultation period, which means the Council can tweak the arrangements where necessary.