Reimagining our villages and roadways

Creating safe and inviting public places - dlr have been working in partnership with local stakeholders in a number of areas around the county to create temporary designs for re-imagined public spaces in our villages and dedicated cycling links on our roads.

We want to ensure we can provide a safe and welcoming place for residents, businesses and visitors and help re-open our areas as our society gets on the path to recovery following the impact from COVID-19.

Safety is at the heart of this public realm project, in terms of safe physical distancing and road safety. This initiative will allow pedestrians and cyclists to move around safely, to shop, rest and enjoy this new public space. These projects will roll out over the summer months through June and July.

Commencing in Blackrock Village, in order to create an attractive public space in this village setting, we will be integrating planters and street furnishings to help make visiting, shopping or simply spending time in Blackrock Village a safe and enjoyable experience. The design concept envisions a ‘soft’ separation between pedestrians and cyclists, as this is intended to be a public space through which people can move through at a leisurely pace, taking time to rest and enjoy. We want to ensure that the village is safe and can be enjoyed by all - the young and old, those who are new to cycling or who may have taken it up again after a long time; those who are mobility-challenged, including, amongst others, the blind and visually impaired.

This design will provide a new temporary one-way flow for vehicular traffic and cyclists from Rock Hill down through Main Street with the space resulting from the removal of a traffic lane and sections of on-street parking being reallocated for the safety of pedestrians, through wider footpaths, and cyclists, by means of a new contra-flow facility. We will be using screw-down kerb separators between traffic and pedestrians and cyclists, as well as placing a contrasting layer buff-coloured anti-skid surfacing to mark the areas clearly.

The expanded pedestrian zones may also offer opportunities for cafes and restaurants to use the public realm whilst ensuring safe physical distancing is adhered to.