News on Ardrossan Connections Proposals

Last week, the Ardrossan Connections team had a positive on-site visit and meeting with accessibility organisations to discuss the design proposals for the Ardrossan Connections project. Sustrans and North Ayrshire Council met with organisations who represent people with sensory and mobility impairments to discuss, and gain first hand experience of, similar designs to those being proposed for the Ardrossan Connections project.

Organisations included RNIB, Scottish Centre for Personal Safety, Sight Scotland and Sight Scotland Veterans, Deafblind Scotland, North Ayrshire Access panel and Glasgow Access Panel. We also had online meetings with other accessibility organisations.

The walk and wheel, followed by a workshop, took place on Victoria Road, Glasgow. Victoria Road has in recent years been transformed through large scale investment from both Sustrans and Glasgow City Council to make the street much more attractive for people walking, wheeling and cycling and also to create a much better local environment for people to spend time in and visit local shops. Attendees at the event were able to experience or discuss first hand some of the design interventions being proposed for Ardrossan including the redesign of bus stops to allow cyclists to pass behind them (floating bus stops), the crossing of protected cycle lanes, the design of more accessible parking bays and junctions where the road is raised up to the pavement level (raised tables).

This was a positive and constructive meeting enabling attendees to experience some of the design interventions being proposed for Ardrossan under the Ardrossan Connections project. The onsite visit was followed up with an indoor workshop. This allowed time for further discussion on the changes that have happened to Victoria Road, how this might apply to Ardrossan, and also space for attendees to share their own personal experience of navigating busy urban streets.

The project team will now analyse all the feedback collected during the on-site visit and follow up meetings. This feedback will be added to the Equality Impact Assessment and will be used to further develop the design proposals for Ardrossan and specifically the designs proposed for Glasgow Street and Princes Street. The initial designs for the whole project will then be adapted and further developed in response to these comments alongside comments collected at events and through surveys.

Sustrans would like to thank all those who attended the onsite visit and workshop in Glasgow and the organisations we have met with online. It has been great to hear people’s experiences of different infrastructure and collaboratively discuss how designs can be developed to be accessible.