Legible town
This section analyses how we move around the core of the town centre and how we navigate the centre can promote more sustainable and healthier travel.
There is a recognition of the future town centre being less intruded by private car usage and a greater focus on creating an increased permeability and a ‘celebration’ of the connected urban spaces – all key to the greater inhabitation of the town’s core.
Promoting Active Travel & improving streets and spaces
The integrated transport hub at Hamilton Central delivers the impetus for infrastructure centred around people over vehicles.
The master plan encourages greater public transport use, more walking, and additional cycle-powered visits to the town centre.
This, combined with a transformed series of streets and human-scaled spaces, including a dedicated pedestrian and cycle route from the public transport hub through the heart of the town that ties in with existing routes to surrounding communities, positively changes perceptions of how the town centre is experienced and perceived.
Car Parking
The future is likely to bring reduced car ownership alongside increased use of electric vehicles.
In the meantime, we need to accommodate cars to encourage the wider community to use their town centre and maintain equality of access. However, this should not be to the detriment of the quality of urban places.
In support of this, the masterplan proposes the following:
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A high quality replacement multi-storey car park at Duke Street
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The retention of a significant amount of public parking at Keith Street (with the potential to increase capacity if required with an additional deck)
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New accessible and short term parking bays on Quarry Street at the heart of the town centre
New greened public space at the heart of the town centre
New active travel route from public transport hub
