Barnfield Road Gateway

The first phase of the project stretches from Princesshay to Western Way. This stage is almost fully designed and we have secured external funding for construction.

This stretch of road currently has two way traffic, and is subject to high levels of vehicular usage. Along with the narrow footways, poor cycle provision and lack of crossings, this makes the area feel unpleasant and unsafe.

To make the area feel more pleasant for users, a number of measures have been proposed, which can be viewed in the simplified scheme plan or are summarised in the table below:

Full details of this can be seen in the scheme plan, and will result in Barnfield Road looking the visualisations below.

Links to Other Projects

These proposals are designed alongside another scheme being promoted by Exeter City Council, which is returning the access to Princesshay carparks to its original layout. Currently, these carparks are accessed via Southernhay, which was a long-term temporary arrangement to reduce traffic on Paris Street whilst the Bus Station was being developed.  It was agreed that the access to the Princesshay carparks will revert to the original access on Paris Street which will mean that the entrance at Southernhay is stopped up, and the one-way system along Southernhay East will be reinstated. These works are expecting to be undertaken in Autumn 2025.

The two projects combined will result in a dramatic reduction in the number of vehicles using Southernhay and Barnfield Road, and in a one-way system working as follows:

Previous Engagement

Previously, we have reached out to residents and businesses in the immediate area to try and understand their views on the type of scheme we should consider. The main feedback we received was that Barnfield Road has too much vehicular traffic on it to make some aspects of the scheme feasible, without causing major disruption and inconvenience, or even increasing congestion elsewhere in the city.

Following this, more work was done to try and understand this potential impact. This showed that 30% of vehicles using Barnfield Road in peak hours are doing so to access Princesshay  carpark, or to use this access point to cut through to Paris Street. Therefore, following the Exeter City Council Princesshay Carpark Access scheme, traffic on Barnfield Road is expected to drop considerably. This means that the disruption caused by the Barnfield Road scheme will be reduced.

The Princesshay Carpark Access scheme is planned to be completed in Winter of 2025. After this, further traffic counts and modelling will be undertaken along Barnfield Road, to understand if this has had a large impact on traffic flows, bringing them to an acceptable level.

Have Your Say

The first section of the questionnaire linked below is about this phase of the scheme.

At the eastern end of Phase 1, Barnfield Road crosses over Western Way. This junction is very busy with motor traffic, as well as for people walking, wheeling and cycling. The primary route for people walking or cycling are crossing straight across Western Way as they travel east along Barnfield Road.

There is concern that the Western Way junction is confusing for people walking, wheeling and cycling to use, and makes them feel unsafe. We are therefore seeking views on potential improvements to enhance the experience for these users.

We are early in the design stage of this phase of the project and there is plenty of scope for the public to feed into this. There are many different aspects of the scheme we are considering, and the final design can be a combination of different options. We have summarised this is the table below:

We have prepared two visualisation to display how some of these elements can be combined. The final scheme design could be Option A, Option B or a different combination of elements.

Option A

Option A combines to create a clearly regimented design that instructs people walking and cycling where to go and avoids conflict between them. This is achieved through:

• Segregated routes for people walking and cycling.
• Cycle routes across Western Way denoted by white road markings
• The footway along the eastern edge of Western Way has been blocked
• Cyclist stop line has been moved closer to Western Way, and is separate from people walking.

Option B

Option B provides a seamless interchange between people walking and cycling, allowing for freedom of direction. This is achieved through:

• Shared use paths for people walking, wheeling and cycling
• Cycle routes across Western Way denoted by coloured road surfacing
• Footway along the eastern edge of Western Way is retained
• Cyclist stop line has been moved closer to Western Way, although this is not separated from people walking.

Have Your Say

The second section of the questionnaire linked below is about this phase of the scheme.

Phase 3 of this project focuses on the stretch of Barnfield Road between Western Way and Denmark Road. This stretch of road is relatively quiet as it is not open to through-traffic and is predominantly a residential area. However, there is concern this is not easy to navigate and could be improved for people walking, wheeling and cycling.

We currently have no designs or plans on how to improve this stretch of the road, but we do know that due to the low vehicle numbers, and low speeds, we will only need light-touch measures.

DCC would like to reach out to users to ascertain the types of improvements that the public and residents would wish to see. In the final section of the Have Your Say questionnaire, there is a chance to tell us how you think we can improve this final stretch of Barnfield Road.