Calls for busy road to be pedestrianised long-term

Kris Talikowski said the road closure made the atmosphere "so much nicer"

Residents and local businesses are calling for a major road to be permanently pedestrianised after seeing positive changes since it was closed to traffic for works.

Devizes Road in Swindon's Old Town has been closed to vehicles since the end of June to enable an 80-year-old gas pipe to be upgraded.

Pavement licences were issued to some businesses, which said the move had improved the atmosphere and brought the community together.

But cabinet member for environment and transport at Swindon Borough Council, Chris Watts, said: "We understand why some local residents and businesses would like the road to be closed on a permanent basis but... this is not a practical option."

He added that as one of the main routes into Swindon for motorists and public transport, the council has "to factor in the inconvenience to local residents of motorists using normally quiet residential streets to bypass road closures".

Devizes Road has been closed to traffic since the end of June

The pavement licences were agreed for businesses to open while the road closure was in place and three weekend festivals were held during August.

Kris Talikowski, chairman of Old Town Business Association, said there had been a lot of publicity saying that businesses remained open throughout.

He added: "Actually, what's been nice is there've been lots of people saying we should consider pedestrianising Devizes Road and Wood Street in Old Town, because the atmosphere is so much nicer when it's geared towards pedestrians rather than a hurtlingly busy road, which Devizes Road normally is."

Jamie Stapleton is supporting calls for pedestrianisation

His comments were reinforced by Jamie Stapleton who runs The Tuppenny pub on Devizes Road which, prior to the road closure, had no outside space.

The landlord said: "To have essentially a third more bums on seats outside in what has been the hottest summer on record has just been a massive bonus.

"I think every single customer that we see, that we talk to over the bar about this, has said 'wouldn't it be nice if we could have this all the time?' and yeah, wouldn't it?"

But estate agent George Harding said that with many of his customers on foot, the road closure has had little impact.

And Jane Hart, a florist at The Flower Pot, said as a new business they could not tell if the road closure had an impact on them or not.

Jane Hart said that as a new business it was hard to tell the impact the road closure had on them

Some local residents have said they welcome the idea of long-term pedestrianisation.

Steve New has lived in Old Town for five years and said the closure had "changed the dynamics' of the area and it had opened up the community.

His wife, Kylie, added that it had been nice to sit out in the street and meet people.

"I think if they did make it more permanent it would be really good at Christmas and Easter, because it would just bring people together in a different way," she said.

Mr Watts said the pavement licenses and the "fantastic events" organised by Old Town Business Association were a great success.

He added: "We are more than happy to work with Old Town Business Association to explore if there are opportunities to support any future festivals with one-off road closures, or the potential to create shared spaces, that would give local businesses a boost over the quieter holiday period."

Wales and West Utilities said that due to unforeseen engineering difficulties, work will now finish in mid-October rather than at the end of September.