Changes to street in Exeter city centre made permanent

Changes to the street layout in Exeter city centre introduced during the pandemic are to be made permanent.

Work on the layout of Queen Street is now underway and will be completed in June.

The scheme will provide more space and improve safety for the 10,000 people that walk and cycle on Queen Street each day.

Improvements include widening of the southern footway on Queen Street between Northernhay Street and Paul Street as well as a number of other alterations to access on Iron Bridge and Paul Street.

This scheme will support the council’s encouragement of active travel and will help to reduce the dominance of vehicles in the city centre, all of which are targets of the adopted Exeter Transport Strategy 2020-2030.

As part of the scheme, a new loading bay will also be introduced next to Brody’s and Big Bakes Bakery to help serve those businesses on this stretch of Queen Street without rear access.

To improve transport access to Exeter Central Station the eastern loading bay adjacent to Northernhay Gate will be changed to a taxi bay.

The existing taxi bay will be replaced with additional disabled parking and a car club space.

Advance warning signs of the no entry on Iron Bridge will also be provided on the approaches to the mini roundabout junction at St David’s Hill/Hele Road.

Vehicle access along Queen Street will remain under the temporary shuttle signals during the work. Once complete, traffic will be controlled by the traffic signals at the junction of Queen Street/Paul Street. This will reduce delay for all users and will enable the reinstatement of the controlled crossing outside the Royal Albert Memorial Museum (RAMM).

Local businesses will remain open throughout the work.