EXPRESS COMMENT: Let's pedestrianise all of Wakefield city centre

Plans are in place to pedestrianise a street in the centre of Wakefield.
Cross SquareCross Square
Cross Square

The Express has backed plans for Cross Square. And maybe we should go further.

If we are serious about improving our city centre, attracting more visitors and helping our businesses then we need to start thinking differently about our spaces.

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When a partial pedestrianisation of Northgate was trialled it was hastily put together and, by some, ill-received from the off.

But research shows that perhaps the single best thing you can do to improve your city or town centre is to pedestrianise it, or at least part of it.

The possibilities of doing so are great for many including business. Creating traffic-free areas within the city centre must be debated fully. And this first step is again applauded by the Express.

We could stop traffic from going onto Westgate, if not all of it then at least from Smyth Street and Drury Lane. This would create a car-free zone that could include Wood Street and The Bullring, creating a safe open public place.

A place where events could happen, where you could sit out and enjoy. It would be cleaner too. The centre needs a new lease of life and this could be its new heart.

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