Anyone heading into Newport on Monday will notice something a bit different as a number of temporary changes will have been made in the town centre to make it safer and more spacious for pedestrians.
The changes are part of Isle of Wight Council plans to encourage social distancing.
The most noticeable changes will be the appearance of white dots on the pavement to indicate 2-metre social distancing, as well as the message — ‘COVID-19 – Stay 2m apart’ — stencilled every 14 metres in the busiest shopping areas.
There will also be a number of signs attached to signposts and lampposts. Most of them have the same message — ‘Keep your distance’ followed by ‘Maintain social distance’ — which is hoped will remind people to keep a 2-metre distance from others where possible.
Barriers will also be introduced to widen pavements as part of a pilot project in the lower part of the High Street.
To aid social distancing at Newport Bus Station, bus stops for Routes 5, 7, 12 and 38 will move to Church Litten from Monday 8th June.
The council aims to roll out similar schemes in Ryde and Cowes ready for 15th June when the government says non-essential shops can reopen. The rest of the Island will be considered for such measures, where required, over the next 4 to 6 weeks.
With shops slowly starting to reopen and more people returning to work, Councillor Ian Ward, Cabinet member for transport and infrastructure, said it was essential for the council to support people to safely get out and about on foot. He said:
“Immediate priority is being given to our busiest shopping areas to ensure there is sufficient space for social distancing so people can safely access local businesses or pass by those queuing to enter shops.
“At this moment we are dealing with the ‘easy wins’ like widening pavements and extending pedestrianised zones, putting up new signage, setting down two metre marker dots to provide a ‘visual guide’ and relocating bus stops.
“However, going forward, we are keen to work closely with local communities, including town and parish councils and businesses, to find new and innovative ways to keep everyone safe in this ‘new normal’.
“Ultimately, it will all come down to people taking personal responsibility for their actions and how they behave when visiting some of our more busy areas.”
The first phase in Newport will centre on the lower High Street, between St James’ Street and Holyrood Street, but including St James’ Square and St Thomas’ Square.
The measures for this section include:
• A temporary 20 mph speed limit.
• The suspension of on-street parking (not loading bays) with barriers in the road to widen the pavement.
• The installation of painted dots and stencils at 2-metre intervals on the pavement, together with new signage.
The council is also offering advice and guidance to businesses to ensure they are practising social distancing inside and immediately outside their premises when they reopen. Template advisory posters will be available on the council’s website for businesses to download, print and use in store.
Council leader, Dave Stewart, said:
“Working in partnership with local stakeholders, these initial measures will be kept under review and enable wider recovery using advice provided by the national ‘High Streets Task Force’.
“While our initial efforts are centred on Newport, plans are already being developed for Cowes and Ryde and other towns will follow shortly.
“We will be assessing all public spaces and making whatever changes we think are necessary to provide the space that will stop the disease from spreading.
“At every step we are committed to working with local communities to help shape those changes to ensure we have the right measures in the right locations.
“We are interested in hearing from as many people as possible with ideas and thoughts on what more can be done.
“It is now clear we are on a slow and careful journey of recovery, both as an Island community and as a tourist destination. The Island is waiting for visitors to return and we want to ensure we are fully prepared to keep both our local communities and visitors safe.
“This will be essential for the Island’s future social, economic and environmental wellbeing and we are determined to get the balance right in all three areas as we start to come out of lockdown.”
The suspension of parking on lower Newport High Street, between St James’ Street and Holyrood Street, will be in place from 18:00 Sunday 7th June to enable overnight works.
UPDATE – John McLaughlin, Chair of Newport Business Association, has said:
“Newport Business Association is asking the local authority for a meeting to discuss the reinstatement of car parking across Island town centres.
“We are in a period of change and re-building confidence as businesses re-open. The local authority has some good ideas about how our High Streets will need to operate, and we ask them to re-consider the issue of car parking.
“Everything needs to be done to encourage people back into our town centres in a safe and confident way. Relaxing car parking charges for a further 2-month period would be a major assist in this, helpful to customers and businesses.”
More sense to make the pavements one way.
or just wrap yourself in clingfilm…
May I invite Councillor Stewart to purchase a tape measure, extend it out to 2 m and then walk along any of the Island’s High Streets to see how many people are passing each other at over 2m distance. He will then see that social distancing on the Island has virtually broken down. So very dangerous. So many are now lifting their guard which puts the vulnerable on the Island at substantial risk.Covid 19 has not gone away.
no one will take a blind bit of notice of white markings in streets – they ignore any 2m distance once inside the supermarket
Good, they keep their dots and all the bs social distancing. Please remember ,this was all to flatten the curve , we have no curve so why all this? Wake up sheep people please.
Perhaps the Council could spend a little less time on such hysteria and sort out that complete selfish ahole in Shanklin that blasts his music out every Thursday.
Or is noise pollution now acceptable??
And … Make it quite clear to cyclists that they are not wanted in pedestrian areas and, if they don’t obey, then they will be heavily fined. Ryde shopping precinct for a start.
Totally agree Fedup. Cyclists must get off and push their bikes. Pedestrian areas are exactly that and if caught a fine? People could get hurt if a cyclist runs into them. Trouble is, some people these days just don’t care about anyone but themselves, especially the younger generation because they haven’t been bought up to respect anyone or anything
Three times the problem of cyclists was published in the IOW Observer, once supported by a councillor, and yet Ryde council will not use a can of paint to mark out a cycle lane from Ryde esplanade to Seaview. If wonder if, having been warned publicly, they are liable if someone is knocked down?
I buy all my stuff online so don’t go to the high street. as most high street shops have closed down. as for the stupid dots just a waste of time
Social distancing isn’t working and no matter how many signs and barriers in road you put out, it still won’t happen.
Please explain how one gets round the corner by Halifax? Closed Brighthouse and closed Phone4U????
So only Newport, Ryde and Cowes ! ! !
It will be interesting to see how they do it in Shanklin Old Town.
TOO LATE FOR THAT SHIT NOW….
Quite right! Should’ve been done at the start. We’ll have to ban cars in towns so we can all walk in the road!! Ha
Pity the 2M wasn’t being observed in Church Litten today.
Not sure I understand the logic of reducing the number of parking places – although it will allow them to widen the (already quite wide) pavements it will also cause people to either spend more time exposed to each other whilst walking to and from car parks or to use public transport instead.
Neither are good outcomes.
Good idea in principle but lacking in forethought.
And if they are taking away the parking places, there won’t be so many people anyway! I wonder if that includes the disabled space(s). On second thoughts, I don’t think there are any but I always use my badge in the area they are about to remove the spaces from!! How else are we supposed to get to the only useful shops – the chemists?
Why are all the people who keep saying “This is all BS, we are all being controlled, we are sheep”. You ARE all deluded. You obviously have not had anyone in your family or friends that have been unfortunate enough to be infected with this virus. It’s like nothing we have ever experienced before, much much worse than flu, as many say it is. Some get very mild symptoms, some are worse and need hospitalization and some unfortunately lose their life and some recover but are left with life changing symptoms, like kidney damage/failure. Everyone should be abiding by the rules, unlike many irresponsible, selfish assholes in this world. We all need to be responsible for our actions so we can move forward and hopefully one day be free from this terrible virus. Admittedly, the government have, in my opinion, been too slow to react in putting lockdown in place and Boris is full of promises he just can’t keep but we all need to do our bit, remain positive, help others and stop chatting B******T!!!
baaaaaaaaaaa
Actually, sir or madam, I have had two people in my family that were tested as positive. One a front line care worker. Nobody this side of David Icke thinks that the current situation is ALL made up. But liberties are quite literally being taken, and figures fiddled. ‘”There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.’ – Søren Kierkegaard
Island echo why do you not put my post on
People need to know whats going on but you dont want them to know why is this??????
This is all getting a bit silly now, like we are rats in an island-sized cage. Happily, I haven’t used public transport since the pandemic began, and as a result am a lot fitter. Also, I much prefer to use local shops, where common sense work perfectly well to keep people safe.
You could not make this stuff up…unbelievable!!!!
Are you awake yet?
“We are interested in hearing from as many people as possible with ideas and thoughts on what more can be done.“
Well Mr Stewart, if you are asking THIS question, on what grounds and HOW on Earth are Council staff going to monitor and advise businesses as they re-open?