Covid: Ceredigion towns to keep one-way streets after pandemic

Controversial one-way streets and wider pavements in town centres will continue after the pandemic, a council has said.

Some of the traffic orders were introduced in the Ceredigion towns of Aberaeron, Aberystwyth, Cardigan and New Quay due to social distancing.

The changes have meant fewer parking spaces and less footfall, according to some businesses.

But Ceredigion council wants to extend the trial to make the towns more welcoming.

One businesswoman on the high street in Aberystwyth said it was "a different ballgame" since the one-way streets were brought in.

"Footfall is a lot less," said Cynthia Binks from Clare Wools.

"I now close at four o'clock whereas I used to close at five o'clock."

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She said businesses needed footfall to make money while people "on the council get their salaries every month".

Figures provided by the council show there has been a reduction in parking spaces in Aberystwyth from 471 before the first lockdown, to 463 now.

Cardigan lost 24 general parking spaces, and Aberaeron seven.

But the councillor responsible for highways on Ceredigion's cabinet said there were two ways to look at the issue.

"Some people want to promote walking and by reducing the parking spaces, it's a promotion of walking," Dafydd Edwards said.

"Personally, I prefer to drive places and I would love to park outside every shop I visit, but that's not a feasible option."

'We can double our capacity on a summer day'

One café in Aberystwyth said wider pavements meant it can serve twice as many customers outside

Not all businesses are against the measures, however.

The extended pavements have doubled the outside dining space for some restaurants and cafés.

"It's been extremely beneficial," said Nathan Egerton Evans from The Cabin, a coffee shop in Aberystwyth.

He called it a "progressive move" that was helping "turn the tide" of independent businesses losing out to online trade during the pandemic.

Aberaeron also saw a one-way traffic system and wider pavements in the town centre introduced during the Covid lockdowns.

The council will consult on maintaining the changes in the long term.

'A serious accident waiting to happen'

Iestyn Thomas believes the one way streets create a safety issue

Iestyn Thomas from The New Celtic restaurant said he was not a "massive fan" of the measures.

"I've got a bird's eye view here of all the vehicles that come and I think there's just a serious accident waiting to happen," he said.

"Cars that don't see the chicane, mounting the kerbs."

'Lot of negativity' over parking

Gallery owner May Hopkins said more parking was needed

One gallery owner in the town said the wider pavements creates a "nice vibe" but parking problems in the summer had created a "lot of negativity".

"I personally like it the way it is," said May Hopkins, an artist and owner of Oriel Aeron gallery.

"But they do need to create more parking elsewhere, otherwise, we are going to lose visitors."

A consultation into the changes is expected to start before the end of March.

The council said members of the public will have six months to submit any feedback.

At the end of that period, the council might decide to revoke, amend and continue consulting, or make the traffic orders permanent.

Mr Edwards said: "What I would really like to see is that people put proposals forward for what they would see as an improvement.

"It's always easy to criticise anything that we do, but what we want is constructive criticism rather than just pure criticism."