Appropriate safety measures will be incorporated into the design for the proposed £21.3m revamp of Douglas promenades, the Infrastructure Minister told Tynwald.
Phil Gawne said representatives of UK-based charities for the blind would be invited over to give their input and hopefully new design principles could be incorporated that ‘will allow everyone to be satisfied with the scheme’.
He made the comments after guide dog users highlighted issues with a ‘shared space’ scheme in Poynton, Cheshire, similar to that proposed for the promenades.
The planned scheme for Douglas will see vehicles and pedestrians share the road and conventional zebra crossings replaced with ‘courtesy crossings’.
A video by Yellow Pooch Productions, which supports Guide Dogs for the Blind, shows two guide users trying to negotiate the road at Poynton. One who has had a guide dog since 1986 says: ‘I found it really scary. I didn’t know I had crossed the road. I was totally lost. There is no way I would come here on my own.’
In one scene, a fully-sighted pedestrian can be spotted kicking a car.
David Cretney MLC, who chairs the Douglas regeneration group, has been in correspondence with Guide Dogs for the Blind’s Manchester branch which cover the Isle of Man as well as other organisations, both on and off the island, that represent the visually impaired.
He said he was pleased that these organisations will be invited over to participate in the design of the scheme.
In Tynwald, Mr Cretney asked the Infrastructure Minister to confirm that the needs of the visually impaired will be properly considered as part of the overall scheme design.
Mr Gawne replied: ‘Yes, I can confirm that. We had been having very productive and fruitful discussions with various representatives of blind people and people who are partially sighted.
‘There has been some concern in the UK expressed about shared space designs. As soon as the words ‘shared space’ are found, immediately a load of UK-based charities come piling in objecting to anything that you try to do.
‘Our Isle of Man-based charities are very much influenced by those UK charities. What I have asked the officers to do is to invite representatives of some of the UK-based charities to come to the island, so that they can fully understand exactly what we are trying to do with our scheme and we can understand their ideas and hopefully incorporate some new design principles that will allow everyone to be satisfied with the scheme.’
David Quirk (Onchan) had asked what risk assessments have been taken into account in locating the horse tram lines onto the promenades walkway.
Mr Gawne said: ‘I would not support this idea if I did not think it was safe.’
He said the construction, operation and maintenance of the proposed horse tram track are subject to regular design risk assessments and consultants WGS Rail were helping ensure that the proposals contain adequate safeguards.
‘The design incorporates many features that reflect the needs of different user groups, including children and people with disabilities,’ the Minister added.
‘As part of the ongoing design process, members of the design team will continue to give due consideration to all foreseeable risks.’
Ramsey MHK Leonard Singer asked the Minister what he meant by ‘appropriate safeguards’. Mr Gawne replied that experts employed by his department had assured him those safeguards were in place but he was not in a position to list the hundred or so appropriate measures.
You can see the Yellow Pooch video at https://vimeo.com/118137432