The council has launched a public consultation, asking people to have their say on proposals to introduce chicanes – features designed to help manage the average speed of vehicles – on the road. 

During the public consultation for Centre Park link, concerns were raised by residents along and in the vicinity of Gainsborough Road regarding the impact of the new link road on traffic speeds, volumes and routing in this area.

A public consultation was held in January 2020, which asked residents whether they wanted to see traffic calming installed.

Based on the results and the majority view, a decision was made to monitor the impact of Centre Park link once open and re-consult on the provision of traffic calming chicanes.

Although Centre Park link opened in March 2021, the COVID pandemic lockdowns meant that meaningful traffic data could not be collected until recently.

A comparison of pre and post Centre Park link traffic data along Gainsborough Road shows:

• an 8% reduction in traffic flows
• an increase in average speed of 2mph. from 28mph to 30mph

With regards to the impact of Centre Park link on the wider network, a 30% reduction in traffic flows has been observed on Chester Road and Wilson Patten Street.

Local people’s feedback is now being requested on whether they would like traffic calming chicanes to be implemented along Gainsborough Road, or if they would prefer to see the available funding spent on other transport related measures, such as pedestrian crossing points and bus stop infrastructure. 

You can get involved in the consultation by visiting warrington.gov.uk/consultations and completing the ‘Gainsborough Road’ survey.

There will also be two drop-in sessions at St Werburgh's Community Hub, Boswell Avenue, WA4 6DQ, where transport officers will be available to provide more information and answer questions.

The sessions take place on the following dates and times:

• Saturday 1 July – 10am-1pm
• Wednesday 12 July – 4pm-7pm

Paper copies of the survey will be available at these events.

Warrington Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for transportation, highways and public realm, Cllr Hans Mundry, said: “Centre Park Link has been hugely beneficial for Warrington – but from the outset, we’ve been committed to listening to feedback from residents about the impact of the scheme on the Gainsborough Road area. This consultation is part of these ongoing discussions.

“Having begun these discussions in 2020, further consultation was delayed, in part by Covid and waiting for traffic flows to stabilise again.

“However, now that traffic levels have settled we are once again in a position to present the traffic data and get local people’s views on potential traffic calming for the area.

“If you’d like to have your say, please take part in our online survey or pop along to one of our drop-in sessions.”

The consultation closes on Monday 24 July. For more information, please contact the project team at cpl@warrington.gov.uk.  Further details on the Centre Park link scheme can be found at warrington.gov.uk/centreparklink