Market Jew Street in Penzance is to be pedestrianised from September 3 as part of a trial.

The Healthy Streets PZ scheme will reduce through traffic and create new pedestrian areas in the town centre, develop new accessible routes, promote walking and cycling and provide other more sustainable forms of transport.

Delivered in phases over the next 12 months, the trial scheme, which is being developed by Cornwall Council in partnership with Penzance Council, Penzance BID and Sustainable Penzance, also includes proposals to modify the Branwells Mill gyratory system, reduce traffic on Western Promenade Road, and extend the 20mph zone.

Councillor Nicole Broadhurst, the Mayor of Penzance, said: “This is a very exciting moment for our town and we want to ensure that the scheme meets the needs of all parts of our community.

“After talking to local businesses and blue badge holders we had already decided to move the introduction of the scheme to September to avoid the peak summer season, and to amend the timing of the traffic restrictions in Market Jew Street so they come into operation at 11 am rather than at 10 am.

"Last week we met with representatives of disAbility Cornwall and iSightCornwall and we are now looking at how we maximise the scheme to improve access to the town for everyone in our community.

“This is the first stage in a wider vision to create the Penzance we want for the future. As the scheme is being carried out under an Experimental Traffic Regulation Order (ETRO) process, any parts which are not working as expected can be modified at any time during the trial.

"We will be monitoring the scheme closely and welcome any feedback from the local community.”

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Aimed at encouraging more people to visit and stay longer in Penzance by improving the overall environment in the town centre and supporting safe social distancing, the proposals for Market Jew Street will see traffic restrictions in place between 11 am and 4pm from Monday to Sunday from Thursday, September 3.

As well as creating a pedestrian and cycling zone in Market Jew Street between these hours, other key measures include:

• No waiting or loading on Market Jew Street between 1100 and 1600 Monday to Sunday

• Retaining bus access in both directions

• Moving the uphill (westbound) bus stop to outside Domino’s Pizza where the footway is wider

• Taxis will continue to be able to drive uphill but will have restricted access downhill

A contraflow bus and cycle lane is also being introduced at the western end of Market Jew Street.

Some modifications to Branwell’s Mill gyratory system are also being made in this phase to complement the pedestrianisation measures in Market Jew Street and re-inforce the traffic restrictions.

These include removing one of the lanes of traffic, with changes to road signs, road markings and lane allocations.

Following meetings with disability groups a number of measure are being added to the scheme to improve accessibility in Penzance, including increasing daytime parking for Blue Badge holders, creating more accessible routes into the town centre, tackling the use of existing disabled parking spaces by non blue badge holders and investigating the impact of A boards and other street furniture on people with sight impairment.

Full details of the first phase of the scheme, including maps, will be available at lovepenzance.co.uk on August 28.