Mayor 'pleasantly surprised' by traffic experiment

Johnnie Wells admitted a "drastic" solution was required to tackle congestion

The first day of a trial to reduce congestion on roads in St Ives has been declared a "pleasant surprise" by the town's mayor.

Some roads have been made one-way for cars in an attempt to stop jams caused by passing vehicles on narrow roads there.

Councillor Johnnie Wells admitted some people's journeys would have been made longer as a result - but thanked locals for embracing the changes.

Cornwall Council, the local highways authority, said the experiment was due to last for a year and could be made permanent if successful.

The changes began on Monday and included Tregenna Hill being made one-way for cars - with only emergency vehicles, bikes, and buses allowed to travel down the hill.

The direction on Park Avenue has also been reversed and Councillor Wells admitted they needed to do something "drastic" to address the town's congestion issues.

"It's been a really tough set of choices and I'd like to thank the community of St Ives for embracing the the new road layout.

"Some people's journeys are going to have to change and that might make them slightly longer or slightly shorter.

"We've spread traffic across three roads now and hopefully because they're going in a single direction the flow is much better," he explained.

New signs have been put up warning drivers of changes to the roads in St Ives

New road signs were put up to warn drivers about the changes - and traffic marshals were deployed to advise motorists unsure of what to do.

Kieren Couch, the project manager for Cornwall Council, said they would be keeping a close eye on the impact of the changes.

"We've got a monitoring and evaluation plan in place, and we're using smart traffic sensors to see where the traffic moves to and from so we can get a really clear picture and understanding.

"We're launching at this time of year, which is the quietest time of year for St Ives, to allow it to settle in so that locals can really get used to it."

He expected the new system would be properly tested over the busier Christmas and New Year period as visitors came to stay in the town.

"That will give us a lot of information for us to learn from and develop anything that we need to develop in advance of the summer season for next year," he added.