The Council has already committed funding for restoration of the Smollett Fountain, including improving the setting and road junction to improve pedestrian safety and traffic management. Design work is well advanced and work should start this year.
Temporary changes are currently being trialled on site, including changes to the traffic lights. Any comments you have on those temporary changes will help to inform permanent improvements.
To celebrate the importance of this listed structure, which sits on the junction of Bank Street and Main Street and represents the ‘heart’ of Alexandria, the Council has committed funding for the restoration of the fountain and general upgrading of its surroundings. The aims are also to improve pedestrian and cyclist safety whilst also allowing traffic to move through the junction in a courteous and slower manner by altering traffic management priorities.
Work will be undertaken in three phases. The first phase has already started on site in Spring 2021. This phase of work is a temporary trial funded by Sustrans. The changes to pedestrian crossings and the management of traffic will be monitored and observations used to refine the second phase of work due to start in Summer 2021: permanent changes to the road and pavement layout.
The third and final phase will be refurbishment works to the fountain itself, which was last restored in 1996. The proposals include a creative lighting using a ‘Fountain of Light’ concept. We know that people are also keen to see reinstatement of the disconnected water supply to the gravity fed fountain. Unfortunately we will not know whether this is possible until investigative work is completed as part of the current trial works.
As well as scoring each project for its importance, people were given the opportunity to provide other comments to help take each project forward. Below is the summary of the main points for Smollett Fountain project:
Concerns about traffic flow, road width and long vehicles turning.
Many comments referred to the impact of the current temporary works, such as inconsistent lane widths and queues.
Comments on details included locations of planters and details of road layout.
Good to restore heritage and get the Fountain working again.
Some people support improvement of the Fountain but are concerned about the road changes.
Please refer to Consultation Report to read individual comments in full.
