Barriers look set to go up in Spalding town centre to stop vehicles entering Market Place every day from 10am to 4pm.
That’s after 86.4 per cent of town residents surveyed said they wanted the current Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) to be maintained.
The survey was carried out after being commissioned by the Spalding Town Forum in a bid to settle the long-standing issue.
Vehicles are currently not allowed through Market Place from 10am to 4pm Monday to Saturday, however due to it not being policed, motorists largely ignore it.
As the most popular response relating to Sundays was that 37.8 per cent wanted no vehicular access on that day, at the Town Forum meeting on Tuesday, members voted to ask Lincolnshire County Council to make the ban on vehicles from 10am to 4pm seven days a week.
The meeting was also told that the TRO would be rewritten to ban cars being parked in Market Place or Hall Place during those hours too.
Coun Elizabeth Sneath also said there was a plan to create more disabled spaces close to the town centre.
“It’s a big and important issue and we certainly don’t want to make it more difficult for disabled people,” she said. “We’re hoping to provide more disabled parking in every entry to the town centre.
“We’re particularly looking at improving Red Lion Street.”
The meeting was told emergency vehicles would still be able to access the centre via New Road.
The Engaging People Company was commissioned to carry out the survey which received 815 responses, 17 of which were written, with the rest online.
Its director Michelle Gant said: “It’s clear by far the biggest concern was the safety of pedestrians and the increased likelihood of accidents.”
Town forum chairman Rob Gibson said an electrical barrier was ‘too expensive’ but the forum would look at other barriers.
“This survey has given us a clear insight and understanding into how people feel about town centre access in Spalding – an issue which I know is important to the local community,” Coun Gibson said. “It is evident from the feedback that having a safe and enjoyable experience in our town centre matters to people, and there is a strong appetite for pedestrian only access.
“There is also a real desire for the regulations around access to be clear and consistent so that people using the town centre can understand them.”
