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Work is underway to enhance active travel and improve pedestrian safety on Fairfield Road, Dorchester.
Fairfield Road is privately owned by the council, with parking spaces along it provided as part of the off-street Fairfield Car Park provision.
It is an important route for pedestrians moving around the town, it is the most direct, signposted route between the railway stations and the most direct route between Dorchester South station and the hospital.
With almost 600 spaces, Fairfield Car Park generates substantial levels of vehicular and pedestrian traffic along the road.
Despite this constant, heavy use by pedestrians, the road has no dedicated pedestrian footway, with walkers and wheelchair-users forced to use the road.
A footway separated from traffic will give pedestrians – particularly disabled people – a safe route between the car park and town centre amenities.
Proposals aim to improve the environment on Fairfield Road to create a safer route for pedestrians by:
A consultation exercise was carried out earlier this year and the report has been published.
Work started on Monday 8 January 2024.
All businesses and the Dorchester markets and Cafe are open as usual, but you may need to access them using a different route than you normally do.
Vehicle access is now permanently closed from Weymouth Avenue onto Fairfield Road.
Due to delays with the SSE cable installation, we are unable at the moment to reopen vehicle access into Fairfield Road from Maumbury Road.
The access improvements are funded by the Department for Transport (DfT) through its Active Travel Fund. This supports schemes to improve conditions for people on walking, wheeling or cycling.
The funding was awarded specifically for this scheme, based on an assessment of which elements would achieve the most benefit, and the funding cannot be repurposed to somewhere else in Dorchester, or somewhere else in Dorset.
Working with Dorchester Town Council, additional improvements are planned for the pedestrianised eastern end to enhance the public realm, including planting and benches.