For some time people have been talking about changing Gladstone Street and Nichols Street to create a one-way system to improve safety and to reduce the dangerous movements of vehicles due to insufficient road space. You might remember a formal consultation from the County Council in January 2018 which led to the idea being dropped and obviously the changes have never taken place.
Complaints from residents have continued and the Town Council set aside money in the current year’s budget to fund the changes if they are supported by residents. The Town Council cannot change the road network: that is the County Council’s function.
With any changes on the road network it is inevitable that some residents or businesses may not approve of proposals whilst others support them. For this reason the law requires the County Council to allow a 21 day formal notice period where the public can object or comment.
That formal consultation will be carried out by Northamptonshire Highways and you MUST respond to that in writing if you want your voice heard, whether you agree with the proposals or object.
A map of the Proposed One-Way System for consultation is on this website. The idea is to bring traffic from Harborough Road along Nichols Street into Gladstone Street; and from Station Road (big Co-op roundabout) to Harborough Road along Gladstone Street. The plan includes changes to parking along these routes. Both Nichols Street and Gladstone Street would be one-way only. New Street would remain two-way.
The Council has delivered letters to as many properties as possible which are likely to be directly affected (residences and businesses) and is inviting occupiers to comment on the proposals.
We hope to collate and analyse responses in time for the October Town Council meeting, with a view to presenting these to Northamptonshire Highways and publishing the results on the Council’s website.