A Point of View THE SHARED SPACE IN KIRKINTILLOCH TOWN CENTRE By Susan Murray Background: East Dunbartonshire Council secured funding of £3M to create a shared space scheme in Kirkintilloch Town Centre. The aim is to create a space where people will want to spend time benefitting the local economy and the wellbeing of the citizens. However, from the beginning and during the trial period, there has been widespread concern about the shared space principle being applied to the junction at Catherine Street, Kerr Street and Cowgate. I have been contacting local residents by survey during my campaign to be elected as a Councillor for Kirkintilloch East and North and Twechar. An overwhelming majority of the people who returned the survey are worried about the shared space in Kirkintilloch town centre. I listened to these concerns and carried out some research into the principle of shared spaces. This is what I learnt: 1. The shared space principle looks at the space as either ‘link’ or ‘place’i a. ‘link’ – when the users main reason for using the space is to pass through b. ‘place’ when the users’ main reason is to linger in the space, visit shops etc. 2. The Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) produced a Street Charterii which it asks Councils to sign up to. It details the requirements which allow blind and partially sighted people to move around independently in a street environment. How This Affects Kirkintilloch 1. LINK vs PLACE Cowgate from Townhead Bridge to Catherine Street Junction This is a busy access route for local residents, to the Regent Centre shopping centre and other community buildings like the Park Centre and the Scout Hall, and from Southbank Business Park to the New Lairdsland Road bypass with high levels of traffic most of the day. People not using the town centre can avoid this route along the bypass but that is frequently static at busy times so it does not provide an attractive alternative for traffic passing through. Before construction began, the design of the project was modified apparently to accommodate some of the concerns raised by the community. Traffic light assisted crossings were introduced on Catherine Street and Kerr Street at the approach to the junction and the edge of the kerb was raised from being at street level to around 5cm (2 inches). When the project was presented to the Councillors for approval, this was the least preferred option presented by the officersiii but it was voted through. Issues raised by the public about the Catherine Street junction include: • The traffic lights at the crossings cause confusion when vehicles approach the junction as the green light appears to give them priority • The turning circle of buses means that there is only space for one bus to use the junction at a time and this causes alarm as these huge vehicles fill the junction • Long queues form quickly behind buses stopped at bus stops resulting in risk taking by drivers overtaking and/or speeding up through the junction