A Keswick businessman campaigning for infrastructure improvements to prevent vehicles travelling the wrong way down St John’s Street has collated further evidence to back up his claims that it is happening regularly.
Tim Fisher, who runs the Northern Lights Gallery on St John’s Street, featured on the front page of The Keswick Reminder last week after writing to Mark Fryer, the leader of Cumberland Council and the authority’s chief executive, Andrew Seekings, highlighting problems being caused by vehicles travelling the wrong way down the one-way street outside his premises and coaches causing chaos as they come down into town from the A591. He has also written to Stephanie Davis-Johnston, traffic management team leader at the council and as yet has only received a response from Mr Seekings.
Mr Fisher said the “potential for jeopardy” in the area was set to be heightened now that Greggs has moved from its position in the Market Square to the former Thomasons butchers shop on Station Street leading to increased footfall.
A video he has made showed a Cumberland Council highways department vehicle going down St John’s Street the wrong way one afternoon this week. Mr Fisher said that he confronted the driver who said: “My satnav told me to.”
“This driver was following Google Maps. I know, I stopped him, we had a conversation, and I asked him specifically, said Mr Fisher.
He believes that the pavement could be extended to make the street look one carriageway-wide while the one-way signage be made “infinitely more implicit that it is a no-entry”.
Mr Fisher has witnessed drivers and pedestrians almost coming to blows in the street and has sent a fresh email to the council leaders in which he says that his appeal to the authority to improve matters had “fallen on deaf ears”.
Mr Fisher said that earlier this summer he had received a response from the highways department about the issue in which it stated that the police would be informed of the various traffic transgressions in the Station Street/St John’s Street one-way system.
“I would be keen to understand how the local constabulary is looking to change the infrastructure and the behaviour of drivers approaching and navigating this one-way system,” said Mr Fisher.
